


Goin' to the Chapel (30 Day McDanno Challenge)

by Teeelsie



Series: 30 Day McDanno Explicit 'Verse [4]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: 30 Day McDanno Challenge, And a wee bit of angst!, And there's a case!, But he's sorta stressed out... because... reasons, But one continuous story, Danny's clueless, Fluff, M/M, Steve thinks it's an op, surprise wedding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-01
Updated: 2016-02-01
Packaged: 2018-05-10 13:57:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 79,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5588710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Teeelsie/pseuds/Teeelsie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve’s got a plan:  Operation ‘Surprise Danny with a Wedding’.  Everyone thinks he’s a little bit crazy to do this, but Steve’s not worried.  It’s just another op.  Sure, things go wrong on ops sometimes, but Steve’s a SEAL… they trained him to make it work anyway, right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Going shopping

**Author's Note:**

> Happy New Year!
> 
> This fic is a continuation of the story of the iteration of the boys from the 30 Day McDanno Explicit ‘Verse (30 Day McDanno Challenge Explicit Version/Pretzel Me/Remission of Sins). It's probably not strictly necessary that you read those fics first, but there will be references back to them throughout this fic that may be just a little bit confusing if you haven't. 
> 
> And while this fic will be explicit, I don’t think it will be every chapter like last year (sorry!). But like last year’s 30 Day Challenge, this will be one continuous story, told over 30 days, rather than separate, discrete chapters. Also like last year, as I’ve roughed this out, I find that I will be tinkering with the order for some of these chapters to make the story flow… I don’t really think it’s a big deal – I hope you won’t either.
> 
> I’m going to try really hard to post every day, but January is busy for me with a 5-day trip and the arrival of a new puppy, so… yeah, I’ll do my best, but no guarantees.
> 
> And, of course, much thanks and gratitude goes to KippyVee for agreeing to beta this madness again this year – I wouldn’t have even considered undertaking this again if she’d said no. 
> 
> Soooo… This is a little bit of a departure for me… I don’t think there’s going to be any real angst in it (I know – I’m kinda shocked, too!), and there's a little bit of a case-fic to it, both of which mean I'm a bit out of my element, so I hope you'll bear with me! Okay… here we go - fingers crossed – hope it works!

 

 

**_ Friday, January 1st _ **

 

“Would you slow down!” Danny yells as the Camaro careens around a corner.

 

Steve shoots a glance at his partner then back to the road. “I’m not going that fast,” he insists, looking at the speedometer.

 

“You are! You are going much faster than is necessary given the situation!”

 

“Whatsamatter with you?” Steve asks curiously, one eye on Danny, one eye on the red pick-up in front of him.

 

“Nothing is the matter! Just… slow down!” Danny barks, gripping the door next to him.

 

“Something is definitely the matter,” Steve retorts. “You’re all… tense and edgy,” he says as the rear tires skid into a turn.

 

Danny grimaces.

 

“Fine! Fine… There’s _nothing_ wrong, okay? Everything’s good – _that’s_ what’s wrong! Everything’s _too_ good!” his voice rises with every word and when he finishes, he squeezes his eyes shut and braces against the dash.

 

“What the hell are you talking about?” Steve yells over the siren and the roar of the engine, shooting confused looks between Danny and the road in front of him.

 

“Aaaarrrrggghhhh!” Danny yells as the car finally screeches to a stop in front of their destination. His body pushes forward and then flings back against the seat as the car abruptly comes to a halt. Danny closes his eyes and tries to calm his breathing.

 

“What do you mean everything’s _too_ good?” Steve asks, as he releases the seatbelt from its buckle and turns in his seat.

 

“Jesus…” Danny mutters, rubbing his face with his hands before looking over toward the driver’s side.

 

“Danny, what did that mean?” Steve asks again.

 

“I just mean… things are good, you know? Work’s good, we’re good, living together is good. And you know, Rachel and I are getting along, Grace is fantastic and… and so far – knock wood – Charlie’s doing good. Everything’s… _Jesus_ , everything’s great.”

 

Steve’s face softens at that. “Yeah, things are good, Danno. So what’s the problem? Why are you so edgy? You’ve been like a spring wound too tight the last 24 hours.”

 

Danny drops his head onto the headrest and looks up at the ceiling. “I’m sorry. Last night – you know – New Year’s Eve – I just started to realize how well things were going and I started to think that it can’t last,” he sighs, rotating his head and looking at Steve.

 

“Danny, come on… don’t start with that ‘the floor’s gonna drop out any minute’ stuff. Like you said - things are great. Things are going to stay great. Let’s enjoy it.”

 

Danny gives him a weak smile. “Yeah. You’re right. I know I gotta stop with the negative thinking…” He finally looks around and takes stock of where they are. “Okay, so, we got a case, right? Maybe we should go see what’s what.”

 

xoxoxo

 

The jewelry store is pristine – no broken cases, nothing looks amiss. The only indication that anything is wrong is the nearly hysterical woman and very stressed-looking man talking to Chin and Lou, who are on-scene already. When they spot Steve and Danny, Chin breaks away and walks over to meet them near the door.

 

“Chin, whaddah we got?” Steve asks, trying to figure out what the problem is.

 

“ _Not_ a jewelry store robbery,” he says pointedly and leads them through to the back room. “The manager, Jocelyn Collins, was about to lock up last night when two men came in wearing masks and carrying loaded backpacks. They made her lock up as usual and then locked her in a back vault room. The owner, Kenji - that’s his only name, by the way - ” Chin’s lips twitch up when Danny gives him a look, “…came in this morning after the manager’s mother called him because she didn’t show up at the family house for New Year’s breakfast. When he got here, he heard her banging from inside the vault and let her out.”

 

“What’s with the one name?" Danny asks, looking mystified.  "I don’t get that. Who does he think he is, Bono? The guy owns a jewelry store, for God’s sake.”

 

“I think he views himself as more of a ‘jewelry artist’…” Chin starts before Steve cuts him off.

 

“Okay, can we just stay on task here, please?” Steve says, pretending to be exasperated, but when he shoots a glance at Danny, he can’t help smiling a little. “Chin, the store looks pretty untouched. Did they take something from the vault?”

 

“No,” Chin says, with his signature raised eyebrow. “They didn’t take anything as far as the owner and manager can tell.”

 

“Then what…?” Steve starts, just as they turn the corner into another room to find a gaping hole in the wall. “What the hell…” he says, and a second later, Kono’s head appears and then she steps through the hole.

 

“Hey, Boss,” she says casually. “Looks like once they got in there,” she points back through the hole, “they disabled the alarm from the inside and left through the back door. It was unlocked.”

 

“What’s next door?” Danny asks, peering through the hole.

 

“An art gallery. When Kenji saw the hole in the wall he went through to take a look and found the security guard – Sean Kamihana - unconscious. The ambulance left a couple of minutes ago.”

 

“What was wrong with him?”

 

“The EMTs couldn’t really tell. They said there was no obvious sign of injury, but he was alive. Just completely unresponsive.”

 

The four of them contort their bodies to fit through the smallish hole in the wall.

 

“The security guard would have had to have heard them coming. I mean, you can’t exactly punch a hole through a wall quietly,” Danny points out.

 

“Yeah. We’re assuming they dosed him with something somehow, otherwise it seems logical that he would have called the police long before they were able to get through the wall. I guess we’ll know more once we hear from the hospital,” Chin answers.

 

“Kono, could you tell if anything was missing?” Steve asks as all of them look around the gallery.

 

“Nothing that I could see,” she answers. “There aren’t any gaps on the walls or in the cases, but there are packing crates in the back room, so it’s possible something was taken from there. The owner’s name is Stuart Fouche. We’re still working on tracking him down.”

 

“Why not just come in the front door like they did the jewelry store?” Steve asks. “Why go through the trouble of breaking through the wall?”

 

“Kenji said the gallery wasn’t open yesterday, so maybe they couldn’t,” Chin posits.

 

“Okay, so why not just wait until they’re open again on Monday? What’s the urgency to take something this weekend?” Danny queries.

 

“Maybe they were hoping they’d get a head start since the gallery would be closed for the long weekend?” Kono suggests.

 

“Yeah, but they left the jewelry store manager alive in the next building. They had to assume someone would come looking for her,” Danny responds.

 

“At this point we don’t even know if anything was taken,” Steve reminds them. “Kono, Chin, keep looking around in here and see if you can find anything that might point to what they were interested in.”

 

“Will do.”

 

Steve and Danny step through the wall again to find Lou waiting for them.

 

“Hey, Lou. Anything else from those two?” Steve asks.

 

“Not really. Neither Ms. Collins nor Kenji…” (Danny rolls his eyes) “…know the art gallery owner very well. Pretty much all they know about him is that he’s French. They did say that he brokers art as well as sells it in the gallery though. Sometimes some pretty high end stuff, apparently.” Steve and Danny nod. “But come look at this,” he adds, and leads them into an office that, like the wall with the hole in it, shares a common wall with the gallery.

 

“I found this…” Lou holds up the return-air vent cover. “…on the desk instead of covering the vent where it belongs. And this hose,” he holds up what looks like a long, cut piece of garden hose, “…hanging out of it.”

 

“Okay, so someone came in here and pumped some sort of gas into the gallery in order to get the security guard out of the way so they could break through the wall.”

 

“Looks like it,” Lou answers.

 

“I’ll call the hospital and let them know that that’s what it looks like and see if they can isolate what it was,” Steve says as they step back into the front of the store.

 

“I’m gonna head back to HQ and see if I can track down the gallery owner,” Lou says, and Danny pats him on the shoulder in acknowledgement as he walks away. “So much for the bowl games…” Lou mutters under his breath as he sulks out of the building.

 

Steve is still occupied trying to find out which hospital the ambulance took the security guard to, so Danny walks over and idly stares into the display cases. What might very well be millions of dollars’ worth of diamonds blink back at him, and Danny sighs, his mind sidetracked by distant memories.

 

“Hey – you ready to go?” Steve asks a minute later and Danny visibly startles out of his thoughts.

 

“What? Yeah… yeah, I’m ready,” Danny says, happy to turn his back on the intimidating cases.

 

“You okay?” Steve asks, his brow crinkling a little.

 

Danny rolls his eyes. “I’m fine. Let’s get outta here.”

 

xoxoxo

 

“What’s going on with you, huh? You just about jumped out of your skin back there in the store and now you’re all quiet again,” Steve observes with a sidelong glance at his partner as they drive back to HQ.

 

“Nothin’,” Danny answers sullenly.

 

“Don’t say nothing, Danny. I know you… there’s something going on in there,” he reaches over and pokes at Danny’s head. “I can tell.”

 

Danny jerks his head away and huffs out an annoyed breath. “I was just looking at those rings in there,” he says as he smooths his hair back down. “Did you know that the jewelry industry tells you that a guy is supposed to spend at least 3 months’ salary on an engagement ring? Three months!”

 

Steve grins at his partner. “So what you’re saying, Danno, is that when we get married, you want a lot of bling?”

 

“What?” Danny screws up his face in revulsion. “ _No!_ That is _not_ what I’m saying. Unless of course you want me to look like some sort of ridiculous mafia don. No, I’m just saying that the whole thing is invented, like Valentine’s Day, to coerce men into spending way too much money, and women buy into it wholesale and they expect – _they expect_ – you to drop thousands of dollars, no matter how little money you make in the first place, on a ring that they don’t give back when they tell you they’re leaving.”

 

“Oh, I see…”

 

“You see what? What do you think you see?”

 

“This is about Rachel...”

 

“Yes, _genius,_ this is about Rachel. I worked my ass off, working doubles and taking outside security gigs, to earn extra money just so I could afford to get her a ring with a tiny rock in it. Whatever happened to a simple, classic wedding band, huh?”

 

“I take it Rachel wanted something that sparkled a little more?” Steve asks gently, understanding well Danny’s discomfort with what he was able to give Rachel compared to what Stan lavishes on her.

 

“Have you seen the size of the rock she wears now?” Danny asks, shaking his head sadly. “I was a patrol cop and then a junior detective. There was no way I could ever buy her something like that,” he says ruefully.

 

“Danny, you did the best you could for her at the time. I’m sure Rachel understood that. She married you because she loved you, not because of the ring you bought her.”

 

Danny ignores Steve’s comment. “You know, I just about killed myself trying to save enough money for that damn ring – all the while she was complaining because I was never around. How’s that for appreciation, huh?” he adds sullenly.

 

“Well, to be fair Danny, you told me you surprised her when you proposed, so she probably didn’t realize why you were all of a sudden never around.”

 

“Are you defending her now?” Danny gives Steve an incredulous look.

 

Steve huffs. “I’m just trying to keep things harmonious, buddy. Like you said before, things have been going well with you and Rachel. I just don’t want to see you get all worked up and mad at her again because of something that happened 15 years ago.”

 

“As opposed to something that happened four years ago?” Danny can’t stop himself from saying it.

 

“Danny...” Steve says softly, warning him away from his train of thought.

 

Danny waves him off.   “Yeah, yeah, I know, I know.” Danny sighs and turns back to look out the windshield.

 

They drive in silence for a minute before Steve says, “So, the whole wedding ring thing is kind of a sore spot for you, huh?”

 

“The entire ‘wedding thing’ is a sore spot for me.”

 

“Whaddaya mean?”

 

“Ugh! That had be the most stressful year of my life. Rachel was like a crazy woman planning the wedding - she turned into one of those bridezillas. And don’t even get me started on her _mother!_ The whole thing was miserable. I do not _ever_ want to do _that_ again!”

 

“Wait… what?” Steve says, surprised. “What do you mean you don’t ever want to do that again? You mean get married?”

 

Danny seems to realize his mistake and squirms uncomfortably in the seat. “No, babe, not… get married. I mean, I do want us to get married.”

 

“Good, because, you know, when we talked about this last year, you said that when things settled down with Rachel and Charlie…”

 

“Charlie’s not out of the woods yet…”

 

“I know, but he seems to be doing great. And despite this little diatribe of yours, you and Rachel seem to have smoothed things over."

 

“That’s true.”

 

“And you said that when those things happened, then we could take the next step…”

 

“You really want to get married?” Danny asked, still not quite believing that life could give him good things as well as bad.

 

“Yeah, I do, Danny. Don’t you?” Steve asks, a tinge of worry in his voice.

 

“Yeah, babe, I do… I do – HA! – no pun intended... Anyway, I do, I just do _not_ ever want to actually plan a wedding again. Can’t we just elope or something? I’d get married tomorrow if we could just elope.”

 

“Really?” Steve says with happy surprise, looking over at his partner.

 

“Yeah, sure. You’re right. Things with Rachel are good; Charlie’s doing well; Grace is settled. What the hell… we could run off somewhere. Like Vegas. How ‘bout we zip over to Vegas and find some cheesy little chapel…” Danny says, gaining enthusiasm.

 

“I’m not eloping to Vegas to get married at the Elvis Chapel, Danny,” Steve says with finality.

 

“Atlantic City?” Danny tries hopefully.

 

Steve smiles. “Sure, then your whole family could be there!”

 

Danny scowls. “Forget Atlantic City… You have no idea what you’d be getting yourself into with a wedding full of Williamses.”

 

“Seriously Danny? You wouldn’t want your family there? And Grace and Charlie?”

 

Danny makes a frustrated noise. “No, you’re right. Yes, I’d want them all there, I guess,” Danny reluctantly admits. “But I really, really don’t want to plan a wedding,” Danny whines. “How about we just wait…”

 

“Wait for what?” Steve asks. “One way or another, Danny, no matter when we get married, some planning will have to go into it.”

 

“Aarrgghhh!” Danny groans in frustration.

 

Steve steals a quick glance over at him. “I’ll tell you what, Danny. You don’t have to do anything. I’ll do all the planning.”

 

“Yeah, okay,” Danny laughs. “You just tell me where and when, and I’ll be there.”

 

“You will?”

 

“Yeah, with bells on, even,” Danny chuckles.

 

“I don’t know about bells, but a tux would be nice.”

 

“A tux? Seriously?” Danny seems to think about that for a moment and then shrugs. “Okay, I guess I could do that. But no bow tie. You know how I feel about bow ties.”

 

Steve nods recalling a very memorable night a year ago when Danny yanked a bow tie off of his neck and they ended up having some spectacular sex next to the stairs.

 

“Okay, agreed, no bow tie,” Steve answers, smiling now at the vision in his head of Danny in a tux, tie loosened, top button unbuttoned…

 

“And if I’m gonna wear a tux, you are wearing your dress blues.”

 

“Really?” Steve asks, turning his head in surprise.

 

“Sure, why not? They’re kinda sexy,” Danny smirks.

 

“Danny… a little respect for the uniform, huh?” he says, not really as scandalized as he pretends.

 

“Hey, I respect it! I respect how amazingly hot you look in it.”

 

Steve’s face pinks up a little.

 

“Are you blushing? Oh my God, you are! You’re blushing!” Danny laughs with a huge grin on his face and reaches over to poke Steve in the ribs.

 

“Hey, HEY! Driving here!”

 

“That’s so cute!” Danny continues, and Steve’s face gets redder.

 

Steve clears his throat. “I’m gonna hold you to this, Danno.”

 

“That’s very clever what you just tried to do there, SuperSEAL… trying to change the subject,” Danny laughs, then turns back toward Steve. “Wait. Hold me to what? The wedding thing?” he asks, with one eyebrow quirked and Steve just gives him a smile.

 

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” Danny waves his hand dismissively. “Like I said, babe, give me the time and place and I’ll be there…, HEY! Hey, hey, hey! Would you watch where you’re going…!”

 

Steve tunes out the rest of Danny’s rant about his driving as the cogs begin to turn inside his head.

 

xoxoxo

 

Steve raps on the glass and the owner looks up, startled, and then recognizes him and walks over to unlock the door.

 

“Mister McGarrett, hello. Did you find something out about who did this?” Kenji asks.

 

“Uh, no, listen, I’m sorry, I know you’re not exactly open for regular business right now, but I was looking in your cases earlier and I saw you have a lot of wedding rings.”

 

The owner seems to shift gears in his head. “Oh, yes! Are you looking for something for that special someone?” he smiles.

 

Steve rubs the back of his neck nervously. “Yeah, I uh, I had a conversation earlier with… that special someone, and I got, uh, kind of excited?” he says, feeling his neck start to heat.

 

“Ah, yes - I understand,” he is grinning broadly now. “When one is in love and ready to make that commitment, one does get impatient!”

 

Steve feels the blush creep further up his face. “Yeah, I guess so…”

 

“Well, I’m certain we can help. We have a wide variety of engagement and wedding bands. Are you looking for something in particular?”

 

“Actually, what I really want is just two simple bands.”

 

“Of course,” Kenji answers smoothly. “Are you thinking of a particular metal?”

 

“Um…gold, I guess.”

 

“Yes, we have a variety of options in gold: white gold, yellow gold, rose gold…” he says, waving Steve over to a display case.

 

A thought comes to Steve and he looks up at the owner. “What about platinum? Do you have platinum?” he asks.

 

“Certainly,” he smiles at Steve’s good taste and points him to the next display case over.

 

“There, those,” Steve points definitively at a pair of simple platinum bands.

 

“Ah, yes. Very nice. A classic, and they come in a comfort style with a rounded edge…” he says, slipping the rings from the case and giving Steve’s calloused hands a glance. “…it can be a little more… friendly… if your hands take a bit of abuse.”

 

Steve pulls one out of the box and tips it, inspecting it from all angles. “Can you engrave something inside?” he asks, looking up from the ring.

 

“Of course. We do custom engraving in-house.”

 

“Great,” he says, looking at the inside of the ring, imagining the words written there. “Yeah. Okay, I’d like to order these, please.”

 

“Well! That’s about the easiest sale I’ve ever made,” he smiles at Steve. “You seem sure of what you want.”

 

“Yeah, well, he pretty much told me today that all he would want is a simple band,” Steve sneaks a quick look at the man to see if he reacts to the gender cue. He doesn’t see the slightest reaction, so Kenji either really doesn’t care or he’s professional enough not to show it.

 

“As I said - it’s a classic,” he says, taking the rings when Steve hands them back. “Do you know your ring size? I have a sizer here if we need to check,” he says, holding up a large ring with a number of smaller hoops hanging from it.

 

Steve shakes his head and holds out his left hand. Kenji expertly picks a sample ring and slips it on Steve’s fourth finger; it fits perfectly.

 

“I’m not sure what size I’ll need for him either.”

 

“Can you bring your fiancé here? Or you can take a sizer with you if you return it on Monday,” he offers.

 

“No,” Steve answers quickly. “It’s kind of a surprise. I’ll have to get a little creative and find a way to figure it out. Can I get back to you?”

 

“Of course. Surprises are always the best,” Kenji beams.

 

“So, I'm thinking the wedding will be January 30th.  Can you have them ready by then?”

 

"That's very soon," Kenji says with surprise.

 

"The soonest we could do it," Steve affirms, grinning.  Once Danny had (more-or-less) agreed, he had pulled out his calendar and looked for potential dates.  The 30th is perfect; it gives him a month to plan and arrange things, but is still _this_ month.  Steve feels like there is a sort of symmetry to getting married this January - after all, it had been a year ago this month that Steve had finally realized how much he was in love with Danny.  Steve really wants the wedding to be in January.

 

“Well, that’s pushing our usual timetable a bit, but if you can get me the other ring size by Monday, I can get them ordered and we can have them here within three weeks. And I’d be happy to expedite the custom engraving. Yes. We can do that,” he nods.

 

“Great. Thank you – very much. I really appreciate it.”

 

“You’re welcome. We appreciate your business, Mr. McGarrett. So, if you’ll just step over to the register, we can complete the order.”

 

xoxoxo

 

Steve slips into his truck and heaves out a deep breath. His whole body is tingling. This is really happening – he’s really doing this. He’s going to marry Danny. There’s so much to do and think about, he’s not quite sure where to begin, but step one is complete – _pick out wedding rings_ – cross that off the list. He is ridiculously nervous but then he mentally chides himself. _‘Get it together, McGarrett,’_ he tells himself. _‘You’re a SEAL, for God’s sake! You can do this – it’s an op – that’s all it is – it’s just another op.’_

 

Once he starts thinking of it like that, he starts to settle down, and even look forward to the challenge.

 

He smiles as he turns the engine over. In one month, he and Danny will be married.

 

xoxoxo

 

~~Pick out wedding rings~~

 

 


	2. Meeting with the Governor

 

 

**_ Saturday, January 2nd _ **

 

“Commander McGarrett...” Governor Denning says as he opens the door wide and gestures Steve into his home.

 

“Governor, I apologize for interrupting your weekend. Thank you for seeing me on short notice.”

 

“It’s not a problem, Commander. I was just watching the bowl games. Would you like a beer or something?” he asks, as he points Steve toward the couch.

 

“Oh, no, thank you, Sir, I’m good.”

 

“So, what can I do for you?”

 

“Well, Sir. I have a pretty big personal favor to ask of you. Two favors, actually.”

 

Denning raises his eyebrows. “Okay. I think I’m still in the red in our favor bank, so… shoot.”

 

“Sir, you know that Danny Williams and I have been together for a while.” Denning nods. “Well, we decided a while ago that we would get married once things settled down in the situation with his son, Charlie.”

 

“Right. How’s he doing?” Denning asks, genuinely concerned.

 

“He’s doing well, so far. And there’s no reason not to be optimistic at this point.”

 

“I’m glad to hear that, Commander.”

 

Steve nods in reply. “So, as I said, Danny and I had agreed that we wanted to get married once things settle down…” Steve takes a deep breath.

 

“And so now you are,” the Governor fills in the blank.

 

Steve let’s out the breath, nodding his head. “Yeah, yeah we are,” he answers, a smile spreading across his face.

 

“Well, congratulations,” he says, sounding like he sincerely means it. “So, what can I do to assist, Commander?”

 

“Well, Sir,” he starts, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. “I was hoping you would consider officiating the ceremony for us on Saturday, January 30th.”

 

“I’m honored, Commander," Denning’s face shows delighted surprise.  "I don’t think I have any other obligations that day, so it would be my pleasure.”

 

Steve sits up straight and smiles at the Governor. “Thank you very much, Sir.”

 

“Okay, that’s one favor. What’s the other?”

 

“Well, Sir, pretty much Danny’s favorite spot in all of Hawai’i is the overlook on Diamond Head Road, and since the State has purview over the road and the site…” Steve pauses.

 

“Yeeessss…” the Governor says.

 

“I’d like to request that you allow us to close the overlook,” Denning raises an eyebrow, “and the road for a quarter mile on each side for a couple of hours so we can have the ceremony there.”

 

Both of Denning’s eyebrows shoot up to his hairline. “That a tall request, Commander. It’s a popular tourist spot and a busy road.”

 

“I’m aware of that, Sir. But it wouldn’t be the first time that traffic has been rerouted around Diamond Head for a short while, and I wouldn’t ask except that that spot has exceptional meaning for Danny. When I think about where we might hold the ceremony, it’s honestly the only place that feels right.”

 

“The State doesn’t typically close its public sites for private use,” The Governor points out.

 

“I understand. As I said, Sir, it would be a personal favor to me.”

 

Denning pauses and gives Steve a critical look. “Be careful, Commander. You’re almost making me believe that you’re sentimental,” he jibes, his eyes dancing with humor.

 

Steve feels the warmth creep up his neck – again. “Uh, yes, Sir - I guess I can be.  About some things,” Steve admits.

 

“And Detective Williams is one of those things?”

 

Steve just nods.

 

Denning cocks his head and gives Steve a questioning look. “If this is so important to Williams, why isn’t he here with you to make the request?” the Governor asks.

 

“Well, Sir. To be perfectly honest, I’m, uh, I’m kind of planning the whole thing as a surprise.”

 

Denning’s eyebrows shoot up again. “A surprise?”

 

“Yes, Sir,” Steve nods.

 

“He doesn’t know anything about this?” he asks in confirmation, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

 

“No, Sir. He commented that the last thing he wanted to do was plan another wedding, and when I told him that I’d do it, he said, ‘just tell me when and where and I’ll be there’. So, that’s what I’m going to do…”

 

“So, you’re planning to… what? Put him in a suit and drive him to the overlook and… surprise him with a wedding?” he asks, incredulous.

 

“Yes, Sir. That’s about the sum of it.”

 

Laughter erupts from the other man. “Oh my! Oh _my_ , Commander! I am half-tempted to grant your request just so I can see the look on Williams’ face when the two of you show up there!”

 

Steve smiles uncomfortably. “So is that a ‘yes’?” he asks, ignoring the Governor’s implication.

 

“I’ll tell you what, Commander. I’ll talk to Frank Weldon over at HDOT on Monday and see what I can do.”

 

Steve stands to go immediately, wanting to get out before the Governor can change his mind. “Thank you, Sir. I appreciate that,” he says as he extends his hand.

 

The Governor stands and grips it in return. “Let me ask you something. Did you ask me to officiate to butter me up for the other favor?” he asks perceptively.

 

Steve responds with a wry smile. “Sir, I can neither confirm nor deny…”

 

“Get out of here, Commander,” the Governor interrupts him, smiling and shaking his head. “I have football to watch and you’re interrupting my holiday weekend.”

 

“Yes, Sir,” Steve answers, still smiling himself, and walks to the front door.

 

“I’ll let you know next week,” the Governor calls after him. “And good luck!”

 

Steve swears he hears the deep vibrato of Denning’s laughter through the closed door as he walks down the front steps.

 

xoxoxo

 

“Hey, where ya been?” Danny asks, looking up from the tape-delayed football game he’s watching as Steve walks in the door.

 

“Meeting with the Governor. He wanted an update on our mystery break-in,” Steve lies.

 

Danny gives him a quizzical but distracted look. “Seriously? We don’t know anything yet. He made you go meet with him to tell him nothing?” Danny asks with one eye still on the television.

 

Steve shrugs and makes a noncommittal noise and then heads to the kitchen to grab a beer. “Who’s winning?” he asks as he returns, dropping down beside Danny on the couch.

 

“No score yet, but Oregon’s driving,” Danny mumbles, concentrating on the game.

 

Steve settles in, throwing an arm behind Danny onto the back of the couch, and Danny seems to unconsciously lean closer to him. Steve turns his head part way and looks through half-hooded lids at his partner. He can’t stop himself from smiling as his brain works overtime making plans for the wedding.

 

Half-time arrives and Danny finally turns to Steve. “Hey, you want some dinner? I was going to just throw together some pasta or something.”

 

“Yeah, sure. That sounds great,” Steve says, still smiling.

 

“What?” Danny asks.

 

“What, what?”

 

“You’re looking at me funny,” Danny says with suspicion.

 

Steve shrugs. “I love you,” he says and leans in to press a quick kiss to Danny’s lips. He starts to sit back after just a second, but Danny grabs his t-shirt and pulls him close, not letting him retreat and deepening the kiss fractionally. Steve sighs comfortably and is just starting to relax into the kiss when Danny pulls away, eliciting a tiny noise of protest from Steve.

 

“I’m starving,” Danny says, standing up, then bending at the waist to give Steve another quick kiss. “But maybe we can pretzel after dinner.”

 

Steve smiles at the reference. Since discovering the Gay Kama Sutra in a dumpster and ripping a page out of it a year ago, it’s been their running joke – and code word for sex – and they’ve found all kinds of ways to work it into conversation, trying to make each other laugh and earning them a lot of confused looks from anyone in earshot.

 

“I’ll look forward to that,” Steve says, pulling Danny in for one more kiss before finally releasing him. As soon as Danny turns the corner into the kitchen, Steve pulls out his phone and opens the ‘notes’ to continue organizing the wedding. He’s immersed in an internet search for bakeries when he hears Danny’s muffled yell from the kitchen.

 

“Hey, babe… Rachel… … time… … …meeting on Monday… …. … …told her I could go… … …Charlie…”

 

When he hears Charlie’s name, Steve’s full attention finally shifts to what Danny’s saying. “Is he okay?” he asks loudly so Danny will hear him.

 

Danny’s head appears in the doorway. “What?”

 

“Is Charlie okay?” Steve asks again, a little worried.

 

Danny gives him a funny look. “Yeah, he’s fine. Same as he was yesterday. If anything happened, it woulda been the first thing out of my mouth when you walked in the door.”

 

“Right. Yeah… good,” Steve replies, relieved.

 

“Anyway, I gotta be there at 3:00 on Monday. So if you want to drive separately, that’s fine.”

 

“No, it’s fine. I’ll come,” Steve says quickly, because of course he’ll be there for any meeting having to do with Charlie. Of course he will.

 

“You sure?” Danny asks, looking surprised. “It’s really not necessary…” Danny repeats.

 

“Danno,” Steve says with soft fondness. “I’ll be there.”

 

“Okay… if you want,” Danny says, shrugging, and walks back into the kitchen.

 

Steve looks back down at his phone and grins, keying in new words. ‘Ring bearer: Charlie’.

 

xoxoxo

 

~~Talk to Governor re: officiating and overlook~~

 

 

 

 

 


	3. Celebrating an Anniversary

 

**_ Sunday, January 3rd _ **

 

“Hey, grab your go-bag,” Steve says to Danny as he walks in from the back yard. Danny is lying sprawled on the couch, watching some college football for the third day in a row.

 

“What? Why? Where the hell are we going?” Danny asks, not looking at all like he wants to go anywhere except maybe deeper into the couch cushions.

 

“Hilo. Kono found the gallery owner; he’s in the hospital there. He went over to the Big Island to celebrate New Year’s Eve with some friends and ended up with a ruptured appendix. If we move quickly, we can catch the last flight out.”

 

“And then what? We have to stay overnight in Hilo?” Danny asks, annoyance audible. “Can’t we send Kono? She’s the one who tracked the guy,” Danny adds petulantly.

 

Steve walks over and drapes himself over the length of Danny’s body. “I’ll make it worth your while,” Steve murmurs, then nuzzles that spot just under Danny’s ear behind his jaw, and he can feel his partner shiver beneath him.

 

Danny swallows hard. “Oh, yeah?” he rasps. “How… hnng… how will you make it worth my while?”

 

“You’ll have to come and find out,” Steve says, spreading wet, open-mouthed kisses along his jaw line now. “No pun intended,” he adds, and wickedly presses his hips into Danny’s, earning him a low groan.

 

A second later, Steve pushes off of the couch and starts for the stairs, but he can’t miss the whine that escapes from Danny as he goes.

 

“You don’t play fair, McGarrett!” he hears as he walks into the bedroom to grab his own bag. Steve smiles.

 

In truth, Steve couldn’t be happier about his trip. It was exactly one year ago today that he and Danny… took a new step in their relationship… when they got unexpectedly stuck in Hilo for the night. He’s already purposely delayed their departure a few hours (Kono actually called him a while ago) so that they’d be too late to catch the last return flight home tonight. He’s called the Hilo Naniloa Hotel and booked a room – not the exact same room, unfortunately - but a room on the same floor, and the clerk assures him it should be virtually identical.   Steve takes a moment to make sure his kit has the necessary supplies so he doesn’t have to run across the street to the drugstore this time.

 

Danny wanders into the room just as he’s zipping up his small bag. “Get a move on, Danny. We need to leave in ten minutes.”

 

Danny flaps his hand at Steve. “Yeah, yeah… I’m coming… Go do your security sweep; I’ll be down before you’re done.”

 

Steve starts to leave to do just that, but then pauses to kiss Danny, tongue slipping inside and swiping across Danny’s for an instant. Danny responds, and reaches up to grab the back of Steve’s neck to hold him there for longer, but Steve ducks away quickly.

 

“Sorry, buddy, no time to start that now,” he says as he bolts from the room.

 

“What the hell? You’re the one who started it!” Danny yells after him. “This better be good, Steven - that’s all I can say! I am going to be expecting some amazing sex for this!”

 

Steve laughs and leaves the bedroom to start his security protocols. He’s making the last run through the kitchen, stopping to put away some clutter that Danny left behind when he made a sandwich earlier. He puts the dirty plate and knife in the dishwasher, gives the counter a quick wipe and then grabs the bread to stick it in the refrigerator. An idea comes to him though and he stops and sets the bread bag back on the counter looking at the red twist-tie that holds it closed. It’s perfect – it’s _exactly_ what he needs. He untwists it and slips it into his pocket, tying a quick knot in the bag and tossing it in the fridge.

 

Smiling at his ingenuity, Steve walks out of the kitchen just as Danny is coming down the stairs, his own bag slung over his shoulder.

 

“What’re you grinning at?” Danny asks, seeing Steve’s goofy expression.

 

“Nothin’… just, you know… us,” Steve answers, because that is entirely the truth.

 

Danny rolls his eyes a little but Steve can see the small smile that betrays him. “You are such a sap,” he says as he walks out the door ahead of Steve.

 

“Only for you, Danno!” Steve yells as he punches the alarm code in and closes the door behind them.

 

xoxoxo

 

“Mr. Fouche?” Steve asks quietly as they walk into the dimly-lit hospital room.

 

“It’s pronounced ‘Foe-SHAY’,” comes the heavily-accented voice, laden with the slight irritation of someone who has had to correct people many times.

 

“Sorry… Mr. Foe-SHAY,” Steve corrects himself. “I’m Steve McGarrett, this is Danny Williams. We’re from 5-0… we spoke on the phone earlier.”

 

“Yes, of course,” he answers, sitting up higher in the bed. “Give me the photos,” he demands, reaching out for the device in Steve’s hand.

 

They’ve brought a tablet with dozens of photographs of the gallery to Stuart Fouche’s hospital room and he takes it and flicks through them quickly, seeming to know exactly what he might be looking for. When he gets to the pictures of the back room, where Kono had found several shipping crates, he lets out a distressed sound and throws his head back onto his pillow. “No, no, no, no, no…” he chants, tablet slipping from his hand. Danny reacts and barely catches it before it goes tumbling to the floor.

 

“What is it?” Steve asks. “Is there something missing?”

 

The owner covers his face with his hands and is breathing fast, nearly hyperventilating.

 

“Hey, hey,” Danny says to him, gently resting a hand on his arm, trying to calm him. “Hey, listen… talk to us, okay? Tell us what’s missing and we’re going to do whatever we can to find it.”

 

He takes another deep breath and then looks up at them. “It was a Thomas Moran painting. One of his Yellowstone pieces. Oh _God!”_ he moans, covering his face again.

 

“So, it was valuable?” Steve asks.

 

Danny turns to his partner. “Let me guess, they were so busy teaching you how to be a killing machine at the Naval Academy that they never taught you art history?”

 

“Uh…” Steve starts.

 

“Yes, it’s valuable!” the owner all but yells. “It’s worth in the hundreds of millions! I was brokering the transfer from a donor to the Eiteljorg…”

 

Steve raises an eyebrow in question at Danny but this time he shakes his head.

 

The owner rolls his eyes. “It’s the Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis,” he looks between the two of them. “It’s world famous for its collection of art depicting scenes from the American West?” he says, but as a question, as though he can’t believe they’ve never heard of it.

 

“Okay, moving on,” Danny says. “So you didn’t actually _sell_ the painting?”

 

“No, like I said, the painting wasn’t being sold. It was being donated to the Eiteljorg by an anonymous donor and I was handling the transfer – it’s really my primary business – moving art from collector to collector, or museum to museum, or collector to museum. The gallery is more just a place to run that business from,” he reiterates. “Oh, God! That painting is priceless! And I mean that almost literally.”

 

“Okay, let’s back up a little. How can you be sure that it’s missing?” Steve asks.

 

“Because it’s not in the photos,” Fouche replies, sounding exasperated.

 

“Could it be behind one of the other crates and you just can’t see it?” Steve asks.

 

“Mr. McGarrett, the painting is 8 feet by 12 feet in size. The crated painting dwarfed everything else in the back room.”

 

Danny looks at Steve. “Yeah, there was definitely nothing that size in there.”

 

Steve nods his head. “Okay. So, was there a reason why someone needed to get that painting this weekend? Why they would have broken in on Thursday night?”

 

He sighs deeply. “Well, I suppose because it wasn’t going to be at my gallery very long. Sean and I took delivery of the painting at the gallery on Thursday at 3:00, and it was scheduled to be shipped out to the Eiteljorg on Monday.”

 

Steve and Danny exchange meaningful glances. “Is it typical for you to store art on premises like that?” Danny asks.

 

“Yes. I often have pieces anywhere from a day to a month. When one is accommodating wealthy art patrons and museums, one works according to their schedule.”

 

“Okay, so who knew about this painting being there?”

 

“No one.”

 

“Well, with all due respect, at least a few people knew. I mean, you knew. Presumably the donor knew. Maybe the people at the museum knew? And whoever delivered the painting. Not to mention the security guard,” Danny rattles off.

 

“Well… yes, I suppose those people all knew... But I didn’t tell anyone else.”

 

“But it was insured right? If your business is moving art around, you have insurance…” Steve asks.

 

“Of course I have insurance!” he snaps. “No one would trust me with their masterpieces if I wasn’t insured! That’s not the point! This will kill my reputation!”

 

Steve and Danny only have a chance to talk to him for a few more minutes before a nurse comes in to tell them that visiting hours are over and shoo them out so that Fouche can get some rest.  He is still moaning in despair when they leave.

 

xoxoxo

 

Steve and Danny enter their hotel room and drop their bags on one of the beds. This time around, they didn’t bother with two rooms; their relationship is an open secret in Hawai’i. Not a secret in the sense that they are hiding anything, just a secret in the sense that they don’t go out of their way to be public about it – more for privacy’s sake than anything else. People know, or they don’t; either way it’s fine.

 

“This is kinda familiar,” Danny remarks, pushing the sheer curtain aside and looking out the window.  Lights twinkle in the city below.

 

Steve slides up behind him and wraps his arms around Danny, nuzzling his neck. “It should be. We’ve been here before. It’s our anniversary.”

 

Danny turns. “Babe, our anniversary was last month. Remember?  We went out and celebrated.”

 

“Mmmm,” Steve acknowledges. “And then we went home and celebrated,” he adds, turning Danny and capturing his mouth with his own.

 

Danny pulls away after a moment, slightly breathless already. “Right. So, what are we celebrating here?”

 

Steve turns them and starts to maneuver Danny toward the bed, pushing him gently and Danny doesn’t resist. When the back of Danny’s legs hit the bed, Steve gives him a gentle push and he falls backward, smirking up at his partner.

 

Steve crawls over Danny’s prone body. “It was one year ago today…” he growls, bending down to lick along Danny’s neck. “That I went to the drugstore across the street…” he pushes Danny’s shirt aside and lightly sucks on his collarbone. “And bought some lube…” he licks back up the other side of Danny’s neck. “And then I came back here…” his mouth seeks out that spot just behind Danny’s jaw and Danny arches slightly off the bed. “And fucked you for the first time…” his hand slides down and he palms Danny’s stiffening cock, eliciting a gasp from his partner.

 

“Okay… okay,” Danny pants. “Yeah… I remember that. That was… good. Definitely something worth celebrating.”

 

“I thought so,” Steve says, standing up and stripping his shirt off. As soon as his pants are off too, he rifles though his bag to grab the lube out of his kit and tosses it onto the bed.

 

Danny has wasted no time stripping down as well and in less than a minute, they are both naked and back on the bed.

 

A year ago, they were both nervous, figuring out what the other liked and didn’t like, and working through the awkwardness. Last January, Danny disliked positions where Steve was behind him – feeling slightly insecure and needing to see Steve during sex. For his part, Steve had never bottomed before he met Danny and didn’t think he’d ever be comfortable with it. Since then, Danny’s confidence in Steve’s commitment to him has let him be more relaxed about trying and enjoying all kinds of positions. And Steve has figured out that there’s definitely an appeal to bottoming.

 

Tonight, Steve knows exactly what he wants, so he lays Danny out on the bed and then lies next to him, using one hand to prep him and the other to wrap around Danny’s neck to hold him close and devour his mouth. They both like kissing – no, kissing is too tame a word, these are not sweet kisses. When Steve and Danny fuck, they both love shoving tongues deep inside, stroking, licking, teeth scraping – opening their mouths wide and _eating_ at each other. Their kisses are deep and wet and messy and constant. It can be slightly distracting - like now – because Danny’s mouth is sinful and Steve’s erection is pressing against Danny’s hips, asking for attention, but he’s trying to concentrate on opening Danny up so that he can fuck him the way they both want.

 

It takes a little longer than usual, given his own state of distraction, but once Steve preps Danny, he nudges him around so he’s on his hands and knees in front of Steve, and Steve wastes no time lining himself up and pushing all the way in, in one smooth stroke, leaning over his partner for a moment and mouthing at the back of his neck. Steve waits until he feels Danny relax a little beneath him and then kneels back up, pulling Danny with him so that he’s essentially in Steve’s lap, back pressed against Steve’s chest. This is one of their favorite positions these days – Steve seated deep inside Danny, his left arm wrapped around his chest, his right hand free to find Danny’s cock. Danny likes to lace the fingers of his left hand with Steve’s and then drop his head back onto Steve’s shoulder, his right arm reaching up to wrap around Steve’s head and pull it in to reconnect their mouths and tongues.

 

Steve uses his powerful legs to push up and back slightly, rocking into Danny while he strokes him. The position takes a lot of endurance – it’s hell on the thighs - but Steve’s in great shape so he works it for long moments while both of them start to breathe heavily. After many long minutes, Steve uses his upper-body strength to lift Danny a little bit so that he can pump harder into him from below; he knows he’s getting close and that little extra should push him over. They’re both panting hard now, and their kisses have devolved into wet smears of their mouths against each other, sometimes all they can manage is to gasp into each other’s mouths for a few seconds.

 

They’re both slick with sweat and Steve is having trouble maintaining his grip on his partner, so when he feels his climax building, he doesn’t try to slow it down. He lets go of Danny’s cock and wraps his other arm around him, holding him firmly and using the added leverage to lift Danny a couple inches higher so he can pump harder and deeper. Danny drops his right arm and wraps it around Steve’s, using his mostly-rubbery legs to try to work his hips in counterpoint. Danny’s head is still leaning against Steve’s shoulder, but Steve’s chin is tucked over Danny’s shoulder now – they’re both too far gone to try to make contact with their mouths.

 

A few more deep thrusts from his burning thighs and Steve is gasping hard, a choked out, “Danny”, barely able to escape his throat. He stops moving suddenly and squeezes Danny even tighter to hold him still, and then groans out deeply and his hips jerk as he comes deep inside of his partner. Steve holds Danny immobile in his lap for a moment and then his whole body seems to relax; knees, thighs, hips, shoulders. Steve’s arms loosen from around his partner and his right hand immediately drops back down to Danny’s cock, where it stands fully erect up against his belly, red and weeping pre-come.

 

Steve leaves his cock softening inside of Danny as he strokes his partner. Danny reaches back up to grab Steve’s head and pulls his mouth in, and the messy interplay starts again, less frantic now, but their mouths are still open wide and the kisses are still wet and dirty. Both of them can feel their legs beginning to quiver with the strain of the position, and Steve reaches down to gently cup and roll Danny’s balls with his other hand. Danny groans softly and Steve reaches one finger back and rubs hard along Danny’s perineum, and that’s it – Danny bites off a shout as his come pulses out and onto his chest and stomach and then spills over Steve’s fist.

 

Steve strokes him through it and then eases his hands away and this time it’s Danny who relaxes, and as soon as he does, they both topple sideways onto the bed and let out simultaneous groans as Steve’s cock slips free. Neither of them says anything as their breathing slows down and they lie together, sated and content, until Danny shifts, and rolls onto his side to face Steve.

 

“We need to make sure we celebrate this anniversary every year, I think,” Danny says, then sucks in a huge yawn.

 

“Mmmm,” Steve hums in response; his eyes are closed but a small smile creases his face.

 

“This is gross,” Danny says, clearly meaning the come that covers much of his body.

 

“Mmmm,” Steve acknowledges again, nodding his head a little, eyes still closed.

 

“I should go take a shower,” Danny adds, though not moving at all and clearly not wanting to.

 

Steve blindly presses his face forward and kisses Danny haphazardly at the corner of his mouth, but doesn’t say anything.

 

Danny cracks an eye open to look at him, but then shuts it again. He still makes no move to get out of the bed and seconds later, he’s sound asleep.

 

As soon as Steve registers Danny’s stillness, he forces himself into alertness and waits until he can tell his partner is deeply asleep. Then he slips out of bed and retrieves the red bread-bag twist-tie from his pocket. He gently eases Danny’s left hand from where it lies on the bed and slips the twist-tie around the fourth finger, pinching the spot where the two ends come together. He slides the twist tie off again and then twists, careful to retain the loop in the size he just measured. Danny doesn’t stir at all and Steve smiles as he slips from the bed and tucks the twist-tie into his wallet for safe-keeping. Then he fishes his phone out of his other pocket, he opens the ‘notes’ section on his phone and checks another item off his list.

 

Feeling very self-satisfied, he spoons up behind Danny in the bed, and drifts off to sleep.

 

xoxoxo

 

~~Figure out Danny’s ring size~~

 

 

 


	4. Going to a PTA Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies to KippyVee; I tinkered with this quite a bit after she returned it yesterday, so any typos, mistakes, etc., are undoubtedly mine.

**_ Monday, January 4th _ **

 

Buying tickets for their flights to and from Hilo at the last minute means that they don’t have a return flight until 10:30am. And even though they take the rare opportunity to sleep in a little, Steve still slips out of bed long before Danny and heads down to the swimming pool for a half hour. As he swims, his mind is occupied with wedding plans. He’s pretty pleased with himself that he came up with a way to get Danny’s ring size – he’ll need to get back to the jewelry store today so Kenji can get the ring orders in to make sure that they’ll be ready in time for the 30th. He turns a few more details over in his head, working out ideas and logistics a little before he pulls himself out of the pool and heads back upstairs.

 

When he gets back to the room, Danny is still sleeping, but Steve wakes him up with wet kisses along his neck. Danny still looks completely sated from the night before, but Steve’s pretty sure that doesn’t mean that Danny won’t mind starting the day the same way. He’s not wrong. After long minutes of languid kissing, Steve pulls Danny into the shower.  As the warm water runs over their bodies, Steve works his fingers into Danny at the same time that he sucks Danny's cock into his mouth and throat with bottomless strokes, until Danny comes with a shout and his knees almost buckle.

 

Steve stands and pushes his rock-hard erection into Danny’s hip, grinding for a moment with kisses that are deep and nearly desperate. He tries to give Danny a few moments to come down, but is barely able to restrain himself, and a moment later, he lifts Danny's left leg and positions himself. Once he’s aligned, Steve lifts Danny’s right leg, encouraging him to wrap both around Steve’s waist, and then Steve relaxes his hold on his partner and Danny slides inexorably down onto Steve’s cock.

 

Danny grips Steve’s neck and holds on as he presses Danny’s back against the shower wall. Everything fits so perfectly - with Steve in him and around him - that all he can do is put his head back and groan as Steve pushes his tongue into his mouth.

 

Without pause, Steve starts to move, long, firm strokes in and out of Danny, fluid but not hard. Steve wants to keep his mouth on Danny’s but after a few moments, he pulls away, his mouth too uncoordinated to keep going; instead he ducks his head and pants into Danny’s neck. A dozen more solid strokes and Steve is almost gone too, his hips stuttering and losing rhythm. Danny registers the change and pulls Steve’s head around and tongues his ear, causing him to shiver hard and then come with a grunt and a loud exhale. They are both still for a moment and then after one sweet kiss to Danny’s lips, Steve eases himself out of his partner and carefully releases his legs back down to the shower floor.

 

They are both slightly wobbly-legged and breathing hard, and as they stand under the warm spray, Steve wets a cloth and washes them both.

 

“Good morning,” Danny says – the first words spoken between the two of them so far this day.

 

Steve huffs. “Morning.”

 

“I could be happy waking up like this every day for the rest of my life,” Danny mumbles with a goofy grin on his face.

 

“Til death do us part, Danno…” Steve sighs happily, then freezes for a split second and looks carefully at his partner, worried he might have given something away.

 

But Danny’s eyes are closed where he still leans against the shower wall and he just quirks a smile and nods happily.  "Yeah, that sounds perfect, babe.”

 

xoxoxo

 

Their flight is on-time and they arrive back at the Palace right about noon, so Steve asks what everyone wants for lunch and volunteers to buy and go pick it up. He’s slightly annoyed at the stunned faces that stare back at him, and he gives them an unimpressed look before darting out to get the lunch. And maybe it’s just a happy coincidence that the place he chooses for lunch today just happens to be located 3 blocks from the jewelry store. He slips into the store and when Steve shows Kenji the twist-tie that is exactly Danny’s ring size, the owner smiles broadly and praises Steve for being so clever. He waits a few more minutes while Kenji phones in the order, and then hops back in the truck and takes a moment to open the ‘notes’ on his phone.

 

That done, he runs over to the deli and picks up lunch, then makes one quick stop at the courthouse. He's pretty sure that when he gets back to the Palace, no one will be the wiser.

 

xoxoxo

 

“Where’s Danny?” Steve asks when he gets back with the lunch and finds everyone there except his partner.

 

“He ran over to HPD, but he just left so he said not to wait lunch for him,” Kono answers.

 

While he’s gone, Steve takes the opportunity to let the rest of the team in on his plan to surprise Danny with a wedding on January 30th. He’d been hoping for a chance to talk to them alone – to make sure they ‘save the date’ – but he’s also hoping that maybe they’ll be willing to lend a hand with some things.

 

After Kono finishes 'whooping' and hugging Steve, Lou is the first to pipe up.

 

“Are you _crazy_ , man? You can’t _surprise_ someone with a _wedding_! He’s gonna _kill_ you!”

 

“No, it’ll be great,” Steve insists. “He said all I had to do was tell him when and where and he’d be there.”

 

This time Chin is the voice of reason. “You know that that’s just an expression right? People don’t usually literally mean that.”

 

“Look, Danny and I have talked about it and he _wants_ to get married; we both do.  He just doesn’t want to actually plan another wedding after going through it with Rachel. He said he’d elope with me tomorrow if I was willing, but I'd kinda like to have a real wedding.”

 

“Oh yeah, I know what he’s talking about,” Lou grumbles. “I don’t know what happens to women when they get that ring on their finger, but some switch gets flipped and they go temporarily insane.”

 

“ _Hey!_ ” Kono says, punching Lou in the arm.

 

“He didn’t mean you, Kono. You were completely rational the whole time…” Chin says, uncharacteristicly playful, and Kono eyes him threateningly.

 

"Look. why don't you just  _tell_  him that you're planning the wedding?  Don't you think that'd be safer?" Lou suggests.

 

"You know how Danny is... If he knows about it, he'll just get all worked up and stressed out.  Trust me, I know Danno.  This is the best way to get him through it with the least pain for everyone involved.  Besides," Steve shrugs, "I think it'll be kinda fun."

 

"Kinda fun," Lou mutters under his breath.  "I swear to God, the man needs a straightjacket..."

 

“Well, I think it's sweet, Steve.  Really romantic.” Kono beams. “And anything you need help with you just let us know. Right?” she asks, looking pointedly at Chin and Lou.

 

“Absolutely,” Chin says with a smirk, nodding his head vigorously.

 

“Sure. But I still think he’s nuts,” Lou says, shaking his head a little.

 

“I really appreciate your unending support,” Steve says sarcastically. “For now, though, just… don’t make any plans for the 30th and _don’t tell Danny!_ ”  

 

xoxoxo

 

After lunch, once Danny's returned, Chin fills them in on his conversation with the Eiteljorg. It turns out that no one at the museum had any idea where the painting was coming from. Because it was to be an anonymous donation, they weren’t even aware that the shipment was originating in Hawai’i. They had worked with the gallery owner previously, moving art to and from their museum, including two times in the past that he had handled anonymous donations. It’s a global business, so the fact that it was coming from Hawai’i was just a coincidence. All they knew was that it was to arrive on a direct red-eye flight from LAX on Tuesday morning, January 5th. Where it was coming from before that was unknown to them.

 

Chin had checked with the Executive Director about how many of the museum’s staff were aware of the arrival of the painting. They have a staff of about thirty, and they all knew about it; there was great excitement about the donation. But it had not been made public yet and the staff had been instructed not to tell anyone. The ED assured Chin that he felt his staff was trustworthy, but regardless, no one knew where the painting was coming from. That seemed to be a dead-end.

 

Lou and Kono were going to go back and talk to Kenji after lunch to see how much he knew about the gallery’s side business. Chin was going to go talk to the manager, who was taking some time off after the traumatic incident.

 

xoxoxo

 

“What are we doing here?” Steve asks when he looks up from his phone to see they’ve pulled up in front of Grace’s school.

 

Danny looks over at him from the driver’s seat (Steve let Danny believe he was being unusually magnanimous about letting Danny drive this afternoon, but really Steve was taking advantage of the time to surreptitiously begin his photographer search). “Whaddaya mean, what are we doing here? I told you the other day that I had to go to this meeting.”

 

“A meeting for Charlie…” Steve says, still confused.

 

“Right.”

 

“Then why are we at Gracie’s school?”

 

Danny rolls his eyes. “Look, I’ve told you how competitive this school is.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Right. So getting Charlie in here in a couple of years isn’t a given. And everyone who sends their kids here is rich, so you can’t just buy your way in. One of the things they look at is parent involvement, so Rachel’s been on my case about helping out more. And there’s a big fund-raiser coming up so Rachel is insisting that I show my face and volunteer.”

 

“You do help at Grace’s school, Danny,” Steve points out.

 

“Well, yeah, but if you remember, the last time I came to ‘help’ at Grace’s school, I was arrested in front of her whole class, so Rachel’s maybe a little concerned that I need to make a better impression.”

 

Steve’s mouth forms a hard line. “Those charges were dropped.”

 

Danny sighs and looks away. “Yeah, charges were dropped… that’s not quite the same thing as innocent, though, is it?”

 

“Danny…”

 

But Danny looks back at him and waves him off. “Doesn’t matter… what matters is that I need to show my face at this school and help out more. You don’t have to come in,” he says, opening the car door.

 

“No, I don’t mind, I’ll come. I can volunteer too, if you think it will help,” Steve offers, scrambling out of the car as well. He wants to do anything he can to help Grace and Charlie – he loves them both like they are his own.

 

“Suit yourself, but I’m pretty sure that a day of target practice is not what these people have in mind for a fund raiser.”

 

“The kids would like it,” Steve points out.

 

“Yeah, well, unfortunately, the kids don’t write the checks,” Danny reminds Steve.

 

They find the library and Danny takes a seat at a too-small table while twenty or so obviously-wealthy women turn and stare at him.

 

Danny lifts his hand in a small greeting. “Hi… sorry… please continue.”

 

Steve stands in the back of the room, leaning against a low bookshelf, and immediately pulls out his phone to keep working on the wedding planning. He half-listens and registers that there’s some sort of catastrophe – one of the moms who had been in charge of something important had to back out at the last minute because of some crisis or another with their second home over on the mainland. Apparently she fell woefully behind on where she should be in preparing for their event and now they have a virtual emergency on their hands. Steve snorts to himself – that woman’s next kid won’t be getting onto this school.

 

Steve is flipping through webpages for local photographers when he half-hears the Chair ask if anyone is willing to step up and volunteer to take over for the MIA-mom and organize the venue and catering for the art auction gala on Saturday, the 30th. Steve’s interest is peaked a bit when he registers the date, but 30 seconds of deafening silence follows the request, so Steve is able to fully concentrate on looking at a photographer’s sample photos again.

 

He’s rolling his eyes at a close up picture of two hands wearing wedding rings when he hears a familiar voice.

 

“Um, yeah, I guess I could do that,” Danny says, the reluctance in his voice obvious.

 

Wait… Steve’s head snaps up. _WHAT?_   Did Danny actually just volunteer to work at a school gala on January 30th?

 

“Wonderful!” the Chair gushes. “Thank you so much, Mr. Williams!”

 

Steve is standing up straight now – no longer slumped distractedly against the bookshelf – and he is entering a state of virtual panic. He watches and listens as the committee members fill Danny in on all the things he needs to do: find a venue that can accommodate 300 people; find a caterer who can work with them on short notice; get tables and chairs; design place settings and centerpieces; make sure there’s an AV system; and on and on. Steve watches dumbfounded as Danny essentially volunteers to plan a wedding-sized gala for the same day as Steve is planning their surprise wedding.

 

This is not good.

 

xoxoxo

 

~~Get Danny’s ring size to Kenji~~

~~Pick up application for marriage certificate~~

 


	5. Helping with Insomnia

 

 

 _ January 5, 2016_ , 1:12 am

 

It’s something of a role-reversal that Steve is lying wide awake in the middle of the night and Danny is sleeping soundly next to him. Steve sighs in frustration, but looks over at his partner and is glad that at least Danny is not plagued with insomnia tonight as well. It’s gotten better – Steve doesn’t wake to a cold, empty bed nearly as much as he used to, but it’s still not unusual, one or two mornings a week when he gets up for his morning swim, to find Danny asleep on the couch with the TV on (but muted). Steve’s not sure how Danny always seems to manage to leave their bed without waking him, and he always feels a little guilty for not being aware when Danny’s demons are haunting him.

 

Falling asleep isn’t something that Steve typically has trouble with; years in the Navy had taught his body the necessity of being able to grab sleep wherever and whenever it was available, and he’s always been able to drop off within seconds of putting his head down. Not that Steve isn’t plagued by his own sleep issues – at least once or twice a month he is awoken from a nightmare by soothing words and gentle fingers carding through his hair. He’s not sure how Danny knows – whether he thrashes in bed, or yells out – and he’s never quite been able to bring himself to ask; it’s an unspoken rule that they don’t talk about their demons.

 

He’s been lying still for nearly two hours so he doesn’t wake Danny when he finally slips out of bed and creeps downstairs. He turns the TV on and mutes the volume, lying on the couch and hoping that whatever it is about this that seems to help Danny, might help him too.

 

He knows the reason he can’t sleep is because he’s thinking about how Danny threw a wrench in his plan by volunteering to plan an event for the very same day that Steve wants to get married. Steve can’t believe the irony that Danny refuses to plan a wedding but has volunteered to plan a gala event that will be ten times bigger and more complicated than any wedding the two of them would ever want.

 

Steve is turning the problem over in his head, trying to work out how to get Danny out of his commitment, when a simpler answer suddenly comes to him. He’s stuck on the idea of getting married in January, and he needs time to plan and organize everything, but there’s no real reason why it has to be on the 30th. They could simply get married on Sunday, January 31st instead. And really, there’s a nice symmetry to getting married on the last day of the month. Of course, it might make dealing with Rachel a little tricky because they’ll have to ask to keep the kids for longer than usual that day (drop-off is usually at 1:00 on Sundays) and she can sometimes get a little techy when Danny asks to adjust the schedule for one reason or another. But things have been pretty smooth with them all lately, and Rachel seems to think that Steve is a good and calming influence on Danny (if she only knew the truth!) so he thinks he should be able to talk her around.

 

Yes, this seems like an easy and logical solution, so Steve decides that the first chance he has tomorrow – or rather, later today – he’ll call the Governor and ask him if he can arrange the closure of the road and overlook for Sunday, January 31st, instead.  

 

That problem satisfactorily solved in his head, Steve expects to start to feel sleepy, but instead he continues to feel wired. He doesn’t want to go back upstairs and risk waking Danny, so he stays put and hopes he’ll wind down soon. But ten minutes later, he hears a soft footfall on the stairs and then Danny is standing between him and the TV.

 

“Hey. Whaddaya doin’?” Danny asks sleepily.

 

“Couldn’t sleep.”

 

“Really?” Danny asks, surprised. He’s well aware of Steve’s apparent ability to sleep at the drop of a hat - in fact, he’s watched it happen with frequent envy.

  

Steve just shrugs a little, not wanting to explain what’s been keeping him up.

 

Danny stares at him for a few seconds and then turns and walks into the kitchen. Steve hears the refrigerator and cupboards opening and closing, and a few minutes later, Danny walks out with a steaming mug in his hand. Steve sits up on the couch and Danny sits down next to him, handing him the mug.

 

“Warm milk and whiskey,” Danny says before Steve can ask.

 

Steve raises an eyebrow at Danny and then sniffs at the liquid in the mug, making a face at the smell.

 

“Trust me, it works,” Danny says, pushing the mug up toward Steve’s mouth.

 

Steve takes a sip and then makes another face at the taste.

 

“It grows on you,” Danny assures him. “Drink it.”

 

“Do you drink this when you can’t sleep?” Steve asks out of curiosity.

 

“Used to. Not anymore,” Danny answers, then sucks in a huge yawn.

 

“How come?”

 

Danny gives a half-shrug with one shoulder. “Got a little too dependent on it after…” he cuts himself off. “I got a little too dependent on it.”

 

Steve scrutinizes Danny’s face, but he’s staring at the television, so he can’t really read his eyes. After a moment, he gives up and turns back, drinking down the rest of the hot beverage. When he finishes, he leans forward and puts the mug on the coffee table, then sits back and leans into Danny. Danny wraps an arm around Steve and then sort of pulls him over, until they’re both lying on the couch, Steve’s head on Danny’s chest and their limbs intertwined. He feels Danny’s hand start to card softly though his hair and within a couple of minutes, Steve finds that he is irreversibly drowsy; seconds later, he’s out.

 

When Steve wakes four hours later, he immediately becomes aware of light fingers softly rubbing up and down his back. He tilts his head up and when Danny registers the movement, he looks back down at him. He looks tired.

 

“Did you sleep at all?” Steve asks.

 

Danny just shakes his head and yawns a little, his hand still moving gently on Steve’s back.

 

“I’m sorry,” Steve says, feeling bad that he had slept so well while Danny lay awake.

 

“’S okay. I got a lot on my mind anyway. Need to figure out how the hell to plan a gala event for a bunch of rich snobs.”

 

“Yeah?” Steve feels like he’s holding his breath. “You get it all worked out?”

 

Danny snorts. “No. I have no idea what I was thinking, volunteering for that. If it ever looks like I’m about to do something so incredibly stupid again, you have my permission to shoot me if necessary to stop me.”

 

Steve huffs at that. “Well, did you at least get some ideas while you lay there and watched me sleep?”

 

“Yeah, I guess I got a list of things I might need to do… a long list,” Danny sighs. “And don’t be stupid – I can tell you’re feeling guilty for falling asleep, so stop it,” he mumbles affectionately, kissing the side of Steve’s head before extricating himself from their nest and standing up. “I’m used to it. And besides, you need your beauty rest,” he adds with a smirk, reaching out a hand to pull Steve up.

 

xoxoxo

 

Steve and Danny start the day by driving out to meet with the owner of the painting. The donor, Susanna Winfield, is an elderly heiress and lives far outside of the city, an hour-and-a-half drive from the Palace. She is understandably distressed and nearly collapses when Steve tries to gently break the news of the theft to her. Afterward, it’s hard to get coherent answers from her about who else knew about the painting.

 

They are able to ascertain that she has no family except for a ne’er-do-well nephew (from her husband’s side) who lives on the mainland and with whom she is not in touch at all. She doesn’t think that he’s even aware that she owns valuable art, much less would have any idea that she was in the process of donating it out of her possession.

 

Steve asks about how she communicated with the Eiteljorg about it, and she replies that she had no personal contact – that it was all done through her estate attorney and the gallery owner; she has no idea who at the museum might be aware that the painting was soon to arrive.

 

Although she’s elderly, she’s still quite spry and the only staff she has is a part-time housekeeper who comes in two days a week. The woman has been working for her for over 10 years, and she insists she is trustworthy beyond question. They take her name to run anyway. She has services that come to maintain her extensive yard and provide maintenance, but they don’t ever come into the house. She can’t think of any way that they could know that she has the painting, much less know its value or that she was actively in the process of donating it.

 

Danny asks how many people were aware that she even owned the painting. Not many. She inherited it from her father, who purchased the painting in the 1940s. Her father had a passion for the West, and he had acquired three Morans (this one, plus two of his substantially smaller works, though still apparently valued in the millions of dollars), a Frederic Remington sculpture and one of his paintings, two Charles Russell paintings, and four original Ansel Adams photographs - all of which are still in her possession. But her family was ‘quietly wealthy’ and they weren’t vocal or showy about the collection. Most pieces – including the Morans - had been purchased anonymously.  

 

She retired to Hawai’i from Southern California to live a quiet life and to do her own painting. Since moving here 15 years ago, she has lived reclusively, making few friends and rarely entertaining. The painting was hung in the den, a little used room, and she can’t remember anyone ever having gone in there except herself and her housekeeper.

 

Steve asks her who came to get the painting and she tells him that two men came on December 31st and crated it up. She didn’t remember their names, but she goes to find the signed paperwork that they left when they picked it up, and it has the name and address of the transport company on it.

 

The last thing she mentions, off the cuff, is that she didn’t actually know where the painting went after it left her house. All she knew was that it was picked up from her house on New Year’s Eve; she had no idea it was stopping at the gallery for the long weekend.

 

After also getting the name of her attorney, they assure her they’ll do everything they can to find her artwork, and leave her shaken, but in less of a state of panic than earlier.

 

xoxoxo

 

“What?” Steve asks, as they start the long drive back to the city.

 

“I don’t know. It doesn’t seem to make sense. I mean, if someone knew this woman had the painting, why not just come rob her house for it? I mean, she lives way out here all by herself, she’s got a lot of other really valuable art and nothing but a basic home security system. By the time anyone responded to an alarm, they could be long gone. Why wait for the three-day window when the painting is at the gallery and plan such an elaborate theft when they could have broken into her house anytime and taken all three Morans, plus the Remingtons and Russells? And the Adams photos? … It seems like whoever stole it…”

 

Steve’s phone rings and he sees on the dash display that it’s the Governor and he has a few seconds of panic. He doesn’t want the man to say anything that will give away his plan in front of Danny.

 

“Hello, Governor,” Steve says after hitting the Bluetooth button. “I’m sorry, Sir, Danny and I are right in the middle of something. I’m going to have to call you back.”

 

“I understand, Commander. Give me a call when you can,” he answers perceptively.

 

“I will, thank you, Sir,” Steve says before quickly ending the call.

 

“Why did you do that?” Danny asks him.

 

“Do what?” Steve answers evasively.

 

“Hang up on the Governor?”

 

“I didn’t hang up on him, Danny. I told him I’d call him back.”

 

“Yeah, but why? You could’ve taken his call.”

 

“We’re right in the middle of something.”

 

“Yeah, talking… since when has that ever mattered? It’s the Governor – he’s our boss – it’s generally a good idea to take his calls.”

 

“I didn’t want to interrupt our flow,” Steve says, darting a glance at his partner.

 

“Our flow?” Danny squints at him.

 

“Yeah, our flow. You were just about to say something before the Governor interrupted.”

 

“I was?”

 

“See, this is exactly what I’m talking about. The Governor interrupted our flow. You started to say something about how it seemed like whoever stole the painting…?” Steve prompts.

 

Danny furrows his brow in concentration for a few seconds. “Oh, right. I was saying that it seems like whoever stole the painting probably didn’t know about the rest of the art – maybe didn’t know what her security was like out here? The gallery and jewelry store are easier to case. And that hole in the wall – that was just torn through – no finesse there. I think we’re dealing with someone who only found out about it at the last minute. Heard about some valuable painting and saw an opportunity.”

 

Steve nods his agreement. “So maybe someone in the delivery end of things, or security…”

 

“Yeah, that seems to make the most sense,” Danny concurs.

 

“Alright, after lunch we’ll start to focus there. We’ll need to get back in touch with Fouche and find out what he knows about the company he uses to crate and transfer the art.”

 

Steve hits the Bluetooth button on the dashboard again. Chin picks up a few seconds later.

 

“Hey, Chin. Any word on the security guard?”

 

“He’s still in a coma. The doctors are pretty sure it was nitrous oxide that he was dosed with.”

 

“What? You mean like the stuff you get at the dentist?” Danny asks.

 

“Yeah, that’s the stuff. In low doses, properly managed, like at the dentist, it’s harmless. But uncontrolled at high doses, it can be pretty dangerous. The doc isn’t sure if he’ll ever wake up, and if he does, he might have permanent brain damage,” Chin explains.

 

“Okay. Thanks, Chin. We’ll be back in about an hour.

 

xoxoxo

 

When they get back to the Palace, Danny ducks inside quickly, muttering about needing to find a venue so they can get the invitations printed and mailed asap. Steve takes advantage of Danny’s distraction to hang back in the parking lot and return the Governor’s call. He’s hoping he can change the date to the 31st without too much grief from him.

 

“Commander, are you free to talk?” the Governor asks immediately, making sure Danny isn’t within earshot.

 

“Uh, yes, Sir. I’m sorry for having to cut you off earlier. I’m alone now,” Steve confirms.

 

"Well, I have good news!” he jumps in before Steve can make his new request. “I talked to Frank Weldon over at HDOT, and in just about the greatest stroke of luck, ever, their maintenance department is already scheduled to close that stretch of highway at sundown on January 30th so that they can start a couple days of repairs on the retaining walls along the road and at the overlook first-thing on Sunday, January 31st. He said that he’d be willing to send his crews out to close the road and overlook a couple of hours earlier - as a personal favor to me – _and you,”_ he added pointedly, and Steve can’t miss the fact that he’s now going to owe the Governor _and_ the Director of HDOT.

 

Steve ducks his head and squeezes his eyes shut, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers. _Shit._ There’s no way he’s going to be able to ask them to change that; favors or no, Steve understands the kind of planning and scheduling that that kind of maintenance requires, and the costs involved in changing the plans they have in place. So the 31 st is definitely out. Besides, the Governor’s right, it _is_ serendipitous that the road is already scheduled to be closed and the overlook can be available on that date.

 

“That’s great news, Governor. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your help,” he answers, hoping the Governor can’t hear the panic in his voice.

 

“All right, Commander. I told Frank you’d be in touch with him directly to work out the details.”

 

“Thank you, Governor. I’ll do that,” he says before ending the call.

 

Steve’s mind starts to work in overdrive. When he first conceived of this wedding, getting the overlook for the ceremony was the biggest “if” in Steve’s plan, and he cannot look this gift-horse in the mouth. He’s just going to have to find a way to work around Danny’s gala.

 

It’s fine. Steve’s a Navy SEAL, a trained operative; he’s been on a lot of missions that went FUBAR and still managed to pull them out successfully. This is what they trained him for, after all – to be nimble and light on his feet… to react and reassess and figure out a way to make the situation work. Most of the time he’s got minutes or even seconds to adjust and course-correct. This time he’s got 25 days, for God’s sake! That’s plenty of time to come up with a strategy to make sure Danny is where he needs him to be when he needs him to be there. Steve McGarrett is nothing if not confident in his abilities. It’ll be fine.

 

Having decided that he will make it work regardless of Danny’s commitment, Steve looks at his watch and makes another quick calculation. It’s mid-afternoon in L.A. and dinnertime in New Jersey – perfect. He dials Mary’s number first and has a quick conversation with her. That done, he scrolls through his contacts and taps the next number he needs. The phone on the other end rings four times before a familiar voice answers.  

 

“Hi, Clara. It’s Steve…”

 

xoxoxo

 

“What took you so long?” Danny asks as Steve walks past his open office door.

 

“What?” Steve stops, caught off guard. He needs to be more careful about anticipating Danny’s suspicions.

 

“That took a long time. What’d the Governor want?” Danny asks.

 

“He, uh… he’s concerned about this missing painting… afraid it’s not going to look good for the state if the press gets a hold of it. He wants us to keep this as quiet as possible.”

 

Danny shrugs. “Okay,” he says and turns back to his computer.

 

Steve’s shoulders relax a fraction. “What’re you doing?”

 

Danny sighs loudly. “Trying to find a venue for this damn art auction that’s big enough for 300 people and available at this short of notice. Do you have any idea how impossible that is?” Danny rumbles in frustration.

 

“Pretty impossible?” Steve says sympathetically.

 

“That was a rhetorical question, Steven. I didn’t actually need you to say it out loud,” Danny growls at him.

 

“Sorry, buddy. I’ll leave you to it. But, uh, let me know if you have some time for actual police-work today.”

 

Danny shoots him a look that could kill and Steve darts into his own office. When he sits at his desk, he pulls out his phone and opens the ‘notes’ section and updates the page. The conversation with Clara had gone just as Steve had expected; she was thrilled and excited about the idea of coming to Hawai’i for a surprise wedding. She had hesitated when Steve told her the date, not sure it was feasible to get reasonable airline tickets on such short notice. But Steve told her that he would take care of everyone’s tickets. Clara had balked at that, but Steve used his charms and explained to her that he had more frequent flier miles than he would ever be able to use in his lifetime and he wanted to use them to get tickets for Danny’s family to be at their wedding – which wasn’t strictly the truth. The truth was that Steve had plenty of money stashed to pay for everyone’s tickets, and he wanted to spend it ensuring that Danny would be surrounded by the people he loves – and who love him – when he got married. Yes, it would be a lot of money, but the rest of the wedding wouldn’t be all that expensive because it would be relatively small. His guest list is only about 30 people, even with Danny’s family, so if this is the biggest cost, it’s well worth it to Steve.

 

Steve relaxes a little in his chair. Now that he has the overlook secured, and Mary and Danny’s family committed to being there, he can get an invitation out to their friends and family. He spends fifteen minutes composing the email – emphasizing that it is going to be a surprise for Danny and imploring that no one give away the secret – and he feels entirely self-satisfied when he hits ‘send’.

 

xoxoxo

 

While Danny does the lunch run that day, Steve fills the team in on the latest developments – more specifically, that Danny has volunteered to plan a gala school fundraiser for the same night that Steve is planning their wedding. Lou laughs out-loud; Kono is sympathetic; and Chin, shrewdly, says nothing.

 

xoxoxo

 

~~Confirm Overlook~~

~~Confirm Mary & Joan~~

~~Get Danny’s family on-board~~

 


	6. Getting wet

 

 

_ Wednesday, January 6th _

 

“Hey, Danny,” Steve catches his attention as he’s heading back to his office from getting coffee.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Would you come here and sign these? Rogers down in accounting called and they want our travel expense forms from the trip to Hilo ASAP.”  Steve is standing next to the conference table, papers and pen in hand.

 

“Sure, babe,” he answers. “Look at you - being all responsible and doing your paperwork on time,” he adds, grinning, since Steve is notorious for putting off anything bureaucratic until the last minute.

 

Steve grunts. “Rogers just wants to get them processed before he leaves on vacation,” Steve says casually, ignoring Danny’s dig. “I went ahead filled yours out since ours are the same. You just need to sign them.”

 

Steve clutches the papers, nervous, but ready; he and Kono have been through a couple of dry-runs and the timing is critical.  And just as Danny picks up the pen and signs the top page, Kono walks by with her enormous, wide-mouth Nalgene bottle and feigns tripping, dumping most of her water all over Danny’s shirt and pants.  Steve's not above a small act of mischief to get what he needs when he's deeply invested in something.

 

“Whoa!” Danny hollers, jumping backward reflexively, though that does nothing to minimize how wet he gets.

 

“Oh, _Danny!_ I’m so sorry! Here let me get some paper towels,” she apologizes and runs off.

 

Danny is swatting at his wet clothes when Steve shoves the pen back into Danny’s hand. “Hey, Danny, sorry, but I need to get these down to Rogers. Can you just sign them quick?”

 

“What?” he asks, looking at Steve distractedly.

 

“The forms, Danny. Will you sign the forms, please?” Steve says, pushing the papers forward, but keeping his hand on them.

 

“Can it wait a minute…?”

 

“No, sorry, Danny, it really can’t. Rogers been on my back all morning.”

 

“Yeah, yeah… okay,” Danny says, leaning over the conference table, standing with his body as far away as possible.

 

Steve shuffles the top form that Danny's already signed to the bottom of the stack, then points at the line at the bottom of the next page. “And here,” he directs.

 

Danny signs that one too and then Kono returns with a wad of paper towels in her hand.

 

“Here, Danny, let me help you,” she says, brushing at his shirt with the rough paper.

 

“That’s okay, Kono, I can...”

 

“Danny, hey. Just one more,” Steve interrupts him, pulling the top page up just a little and pointing to the signature line that is barely revealed on the form below.

 

“Yeah, _okay!_ Jesus…” Danny mutters impatiently and scrawls his name on the form. And then quickly drops the pen and turns his attention to Kono, taking the paper towels from her and trying to wipe himself down.

 

Steve bolts from the room before Danny has a chance to stop him, and then he does actually take the travel forms down to accounting to prevent any future questions. While he’s down there, he grabs an empty file folder from Rogers and tucks the now-signed marriage license application form into it so Danny won’t see it when Steve walks back into the 5-0 offices.

 

When he gets back to the bullpen, Danny is nowhere to be seen, but Kono is wiping a puddle of water off the floor.

 

“Where’s Danny?” he asks her.

 

“He went to change into dry clothes. Did it work?” she asks, her dimples on display when she smiles up at him.

 

Steve bends down and helps sop up the last of the dampness. “Perfectly. Thanks, Kono. I hope he’s not too mad at you.”  

 

“Nah… you know Danny. He’s really just a teddy bear. He won’t hold a grudge.”

 

“Oh, here he comes. I need to get this put away,” Steve says, darting into his office with the file.

 

Danny walks back in to the bullpen, grumbling to himself, but not, apparently, overly angry with Kono. Steve watches him go into his office and close the door, and, satisfied, he tucks the file away and opens the ‘notes’ on his phone.

 

xoxoxo

 

“I think I found a place,” Danny says apropos of nothing as they drive to meet again with Stuart Fouche. He’s back on the island but still recovering at home from his surgery.

 

“Huh?” Steve asks, bewildered.

 

“For the gala. I must’ve called 50 venues before I found a place that was big enough and actually available for the 30th.”

 

“That’s great, Danny,” Steve says encouragingly. He’s personally relieved that he doesn’t have to worry about finding a location for their wedding since the overlook is a 'go' and his plan is to have a small gathering in their back yard after the ceremony.

 

Danny sighs.

 

“What?”

 

“Well, it’s not exactly a traditional venue,” he tells Steve. “I’m not sure how Kelly Rushmore and the rest the power-moms are gonna feel about it.”

 

“Who’s Kelly Rushmore?”

 

“She’s the head of the PTA and the social arbiter at Grace’s school,” Danny says seriously.

 

“Sounds scary,” Steve jests.

 

“Don’t laugh. You have no idea what kind of power these women wield!”

 

“Okay, so, What? How bad can it be? I mean, if it’s a place that can accommodate 300 people, it’s got to be alright,” Steve shoots glances back and forth between his partner and the road.

 

Danny just grunts, but that still manages to communicate his concern. That, and the fact that he’s biting his lip nervously.

 

“Danny. They gave you less than a month’s notice to find a place to hold a party for 300 people. They can’t expect you to be able to book the Hilton.”

 

“Well that’s good, because they are definitely not getting the Hilton.”

 

“So… where did you book it?” Steve asks, curious now at Danny’s extreme hesitation.

 

“It’s a place called Paradise Found – I guess it just opened this week. It’s up toward the North Shore somewhere. It’s some sort of eco-resort…”

 

Steve nods. “That sounds nice, Danny. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

 

Danny snorts. “ _Fine_. Somehow I'm not sure ‘fine’ is good enough for this group of people.”

 

xoxoxo

 

When they get to Fouche’s house, they are greeted by an older woman who doesn’t say anything to them when they flash their badges. She leads them to the living room where they find the gallery owner ensconced on the couch amid a sea of pillows.

 

“My cousin,” he explains when she leaves the room. “She’s here from France and is staying with me for a few months.”

 

“Was she aware that the painting was being moved last week,” Danny asks.

 

“No, I _never_ do business here at the house, and even if I did, my cousin is _entirely_ trustworthy,” he asserts, sounding offended. “Besides, she doesn’t even speak English.”

 

“Okay, look, I’m sorry. We’re just doing our jobs here and trying to find the painting. If nothing else, we need to clear her and take her off the list of possible suspects,” Danny says, trying to mollify him.

 

“Yes, well… _do_ take her off your list,” he demands, burrowing deeper into the pillows.  "I've never discussed the specifics of my business with her."

 

“Okay,” Steve says, shooting Danny a sympathetic look. “So, we want to ask you about a few of the people who did know that the painting was moved and being stored at the gallery.”

 

“Alright. It’s a pretty short list, as I told you.”

 

“Yeah. So, if we’ve got this right, from your end of things it would be just you, people from the company that handled the crating and moving of the painting, and your security guard.”

 

“Oh, how is Sean? Is there any word?” he asks with genuine concern.

 

“No, not yet. He’s still in a coma, but the doctors said they’re hopeful that he might wake up,” Steve answers.

 

Fouche nods sadly. “You’ll let me know when he does, won’t you?”

 

“Of course,” Steve assures him.

 

“So, getting back to who knew about the shipments… Who did you use to crate and transport the painting?” Danny asks.

 

“I used Evans Crate and Transfer, like I always do.”

 

“Okay, what can you tell us about them?”

 

“It’s a small, family business. Richard and Libby Evans ran the business until he died a couple of years ago. Libby manages it on her own now and her sons, Ricky and Robert are the muscle – they construct and pack the crates and transport the items.”

 

“That’s it? No one else works there?” Danny asks.

 

“Not that I’m aware of.”

 

Steve cocks his head a little. “Is it a very lucrative business?”

 

Fouche huffs. “You’d be surprised. It’s something of a dying art – custom building crates – but one that is still necessary. The Evanses are the only game in town and they do quite well, I assure you.”

 

“So, no financial troubles that you know of?” Steve continues.

 

“Not that I’m aware of, though I’m not really privy to that kind of information. But, honestly, I can’t see any one of the Evans family being involved in something like this. They are completely beyond suspicion in my mind. I’ve been doing business with them for more than 20 years and I’ve watched Ricky and Robert grow up. They are people of the highest integrity. I don’t believe for one second that any of them had anything to do with this.” He is shaking his head vigorously by the time he finishes.

 

“Okay,” Danny says noncommittally, but writing ‘Evans Crate and Transfer’ in his notepad anyway.

 

“What about your security guard, Sean Kamihana? Does he work for a company, or did you contract with him directly,” Steve asks.

 

“Sean is a private contractor. I have a few that I work with, but I always call Sean first to see if he’s available if I need extra security.”

 

“Why’s that?”

 

“Because he’s reliable. You’d be surprised how many security guards are not. But Sean was in the army and you could tell. He’s on time, hard-working, trustworthy… And he preferred night shifts because he takes care of his aunt during the day. It’s hard to find good, night security.”

 

“Does he generally know what he’s guarding?” Steve asks.

 

“Well… yeeeesss,” he answers reluctantly.

 

“So you tell him what’s in the crates?”

 

“I do feel like it’s important for my security to understand the value of the items they are guarding.”

 

Steve nods. “Of course, that’s understandable,” Steve agrees. “So, how far in advance would he know what he’s going to be guarding?”

 

“It depends. Sometimes I get things on short notice and they don’t know until they arrive for a job.”

 

“And the Moran?” Steve asks.

 

“Well, that one I guess they knew further in advance, because I had a lot of notice and I wanted to schedule them so they wouldn’t take any other jobs in the meantime. I guess I contacted them about a month ago...”

 

“Wai, wai, wai, wai, wait,” Danny interrupts. “Back up a little. _‘They’_? There was more than one security guard there?”

 

Fouche rolls his eyes. “Not at the same time.  But I couldn’t exactly keep one guard on duty for 4 days straight. I had Sean and Bryce scheduled for alternating 5:00 am to 5:00 pm, 12-hour shifts for the duration that the painting was to be at the gallery.”

 

“Bryce?”

 

“Yes. Bryce Cole. He’s another security contractor I use. Haven’t you spoken to him? He must have shown up at the gallery at some point?”

 

Steve and Danny exchange a confused look.

 

“Oh my,” Fouche gasps and his face goes a little grey. “Do you think Bryce…?”

 

“What can you tell us about him”?

 

“Well, not much. He had good references and I’ve used him a handful of times. He’s reliable, though he’s not exactly… bright, I don’t think. But he shows up on time and he’s never given me any reason not to trust him.

 

“Did he know what he’d be guarding?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Okay. We’re definitely going to want to talk to him. Can you give us his contact information?” Steve asks.

 

“Of course,” he answers, and pulls out his phone, a small tremor visible in his hands.

 

As they are leaving a little while later, Danny turns back to Fouche. “Hey, uh, you said that you liked Sean Kamihana because he work night shifts.”

 

“Yes, that’s correct.”

 

“You told us a few days ago that Sean was there at 3:00 when the painting was delivered, but wouldn’t his shift have started at 5:00 pm?”

 

“Normally, yes. But since the painting was arriving so late in the afternoon, it was just easier to have Sean come in a couple of hours early, rather than having Bryce come in for such a short shift.”  

 

Danny nods in acknowledgment. “Okay, thanks,” he finishes as he and Steve turn and leave.

 

xoxoxo

 

“Hey, Lou,” Steve says when the call connects. “See what you can find out about Bryce Cole – he’s a private security contractor working out of Honolulu.”

 

“Okay give me a minute here,” Lou answers, and there’s a moment of silence as they drive.

 

“Huh.”

 

“What?”

 

“Well, it looks like he booked a last minute flight from Honolulu to LAX – departing at 6:00am on New Year’s Day.”

 

Steve and Danny exchange an interested glance.

 

“Can you check with the airline and see if he arranged to ship anything with him? Something say, eight feet by twelve feet?” Steve says, looking again at Danny. Danny nods his head. “And see if you can track down where he went once he got to L.A.”

 

“Will do,” Lou responds.

 

“Thanks,” Steve says, and he’s about to disconnect the Bluetooth on the dashboard when Lou pipes up again.

 

“Hang on a second...”

 

“What?” Danny asks, squinting at the dash.

 

“Cole booked his ticket round-trip. He’s scheduled on a return flight tomorrow morning at 10:30.”

 

Danny and Steve trade curious looks again. “I guess we’ll be at the airport tomorrow to see if he’s on that flight,” Steve responds.

 

xoxoxo

 

~~Get Danny to sign application for marriage license~~

 

 

 

 

 


	7. Family time

 

_ Thursday, January 7th _

 

“This can’t be good,” Danny says, looking at his phone while they wait for Bryce Cole to deplane. A call to the airline had confirmed that he had gotten on the flight. The day before, the airline had assured Lou that Cole had _not_ taken anything other than a carry-on bag on his flight to L.A.

 

“What?” Steve asks, craning his neck to try to see the small screen.

 

“My ma texted. She’s going to call me later. Wants to know if I’ll be available at 3:00 to talk.”

 

“What’s wrong with that?”

 

“What’s wrong with that is that my mother only schedules a time to call if she has ‘news’,” Danny makes air quotes.

 

“Maybe it’s good news,” Steve suggests. In fact, in his opinion, it’s very good news since he assumes she’s calling to tell Danny that their family will all be coming to Hawai’i soon.

 

“Trust me; even her good news is rife with complications…” Danny starts, then stops and nudges Steve.   “Hey, here’s our guy.”

 

“Bryce Cole?” Steve says to a tall, muscle-bound guy carrying a small duffle bag.

 

“Yeah?” he answers, looking at them warily.

 

“We’re from 5-0; we need to talk to you,” Steve says, gesturing to the badge on his belt.

 

“What about?”

 

“Just come with us, we’ll talk when we get where we’re going.”

 

xoxoxo

 

“Are you going to tell me what this is about, now?” Cole asks when they get to the rendition room. “And are these really necessary?” he adds, jiggling his hands where they’re cuffed to the chair.

 

“Why didn’t you show up for your job at Fouche’s Gallery on New Year’s Day?” Steve ignores Cole’s questions.

 

“What?” Cole sounds confused. “Why would I? That gig was cancelled.”

 

“What do you mean, cancelled?” Danny asks.

 

“I mean, Mr. Fouche called me on New Year’s Eve and told me the job was cancelled. The painting, or whatever it was, wasn’t going to be stopping at his gallery, so he didn’t need me.”

 

“So you decided to go to L.A.?” Steve inquires this time.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“What’s in L.A.?” Danny queries.

 

“My brother?”

 

Danny's eyebrows arch up and he bends over, leaning toward their suspect with his hands in his pockets. “Is that a question?”

 

“No… no, it’s not a question,” he answers, starting to get flustered and then rushing to explain. “My brother lives in L.A. He’d been bugging me to fly over so we could go to the Cactus Bowl – we’re both went to ASU and he had tickets but his girlfriend didn’t want to go. So when I got the last minute cancellation, I figured, what the hell, you know? I flew into LAX and he picked me up and we drove straight to Phoenix for the game. Did you see it?” he looks up at Danny. “It was a heartbreaker, man!’

 

Danny stands up straight again. “Yes, I saw it - your alma mater choked. But we’re not actually here to talk to you about football, Bryce.”

 

“Did you talk to Sean Kamihana at all before you left?” Steve pipes up and Cole turns his head toward him.

 

“No. Why would I?”

 

“You were splitting the shifts with him, weren’t you?” Steve probes.

 

“Well, yeah, except, like I said, the job was cancelled.”

 

“So how does that work? How does a job like that get cancelled?” Danny takes over.

 

“Mr. Fouche just called me up and said, ‘hey, job’s cancelled’.

 

“That’s it? ‘Hey, job’s cancelled’?” Danny echoes.

 

“Yeah, pretty much.”

 

“Does that happen a lot?”

 

“It’s never happened before.”

 

“And you’re sure it was Fouche that you talked to?” Steve asks.

 

He shrugs. “I guess.”

 

“What do you mean, you guess?” Steve pushes.

 

“Well, you know… he had an accent.”

 

“So, a guy with an accent calls you up and tells you the job you’re scheduled for is cancelled and you don’t ask any questions?” Danny sounds unconvinced.

 

“No, why would I?” he asks, looking back and forth between Steve and Danny. “I was glad to get the weekend off so I could go to L.A.”

 

“Okay, I’m going to ask you something and I want you to think carefully about it before you answer,” Steve tells him, leaning over with his hands on his knees.

 

“Okay,” Cole nods earnestly.

 

“How sure are you that it was Fouche you talked to?”

 

“Um…” Cole pauses and seems to seriously consider it. “Maybe… not really sure?”

 

Steve stands up straight and turns toward Danny, rolling his eyes.

 

“So, it might not have been Fouche you talked to?” Danny pushes for further clarification.

 

“I don’t know!” Cole says, getting agitated. “The guy had an accent! I can hardly understand Fouche when I talk to him! It sounded like him, but I guess it coulda been someone else.”

 

“How well do you know Sean Kamihana?” Steve changes the subject.

 

“Um…?” he seems confused by the change in the line of questioning and stops to think for a few seconds. “I don’t know. I mean, I know him some, but not really well – we don’t hang out or anything like that. But we’ve worked a few jobs for Fouche together, so there’s always some overlap in our shifts and we’ve talked some. He’s a good guy. He, you know, refers me for jobs now and then, and stuff. Why? Is he in some kinda trouble?”

 

Steve ignores his question. “Did you know what you were going to be guarding that weekend?”

 

“Um… some painting? I don’t know, man. Fouche’s always going on and on about the art, but I don’t care what it is. I’m just there to keep people out. It doesn’t matter to me what’s in the damn crates,” he answers in a frustrated whine. “Hey, are you gonna tell me what the hell is going on?”

 

Danny pauses for a second. “Someone broke into Fouche’s Gallery on New Year’s Eve and stole the painting you were supposed to be guarding.” They watch his reaction closely.

 

Cole’s eyes go wide at the revelation. “And you think _I_ did it?”

 

“The thought had occurred to us, yes,” Danny answers.

 

“Oh, no, man. I didn’t. I swear!”

 

Steve ponders him for a moment. “Don’t move,” he instructs Cole and then gestures Danny out of the room.

 

“Where ‘m I gonna go?” he yells after them, rattling his cuffed hands in the chair again.

 

Danny closes the door behind them and immediately says, “I believe him.”

 

Steve sighs. “Yeah, I do, too. Doesn’t seem smart enough to pull off something like that.”

 

“Probably worth keeping an eye on him though.”

 

“My thoughts exactly.”

 

xoxoxo

 

Danny groans and all the heads around the tech table turn toward him.

 

“What’s up, Danny?” Kono asks. “Everything okay?”

 

“Now my mother wants to ‘face-phone’ me, or ‘i-face’ me, or whatever.”

 

“You mean ‘facetime’?” Chin's eyebrow quirks up in amusement.

 

“Yeah, that.”

 

“What’s wrong with that, Danny?” Steve wonders.

 

“Now I know there’s definitely something wrong. She never wants to do that video chat thing unless she’s really earnest about something.”

 

As if on cue, Danny’s phone chimes. “Oh God, here we go…” he grumbles, turning to go into his office and closing the door behind him.

 

Steve watches and waits until he hears Danny’s muffled voice in conversation before he turns back to the rest of the team. “She’s calling to let him know that they’re all coming for a visit,” Steve tells them, a mischievous gleam in his eye.

 

“His whole family?” Chin asks.

 

“Yep. Every one of them! They’re coming for the wedding. It’s gonna be great!” he adds, obviously happy.

 

In his office, Danny’s voice rises several notches.

 

Lou rolls his eyes. “Oh man. I’m gettin’ outta here before Williams’ head explodes,” he says, turning to leave.

 

“Where’re you going?”

 

“I don’t know. Somewhere else. I’ll see you later,” Lou waves over his shoulder without turning around and ducks out the door.

 

“Yeeaaah… I’m still trying to track Cole’s movements in L.A.,” Chin adds. “So, I’m gonna get on that,” he backs up and makes his own hasty retreat, leaving Kono and Steve alone at the tech table.

 

“What about you?” Steve raises an eyebrow at Kono.

 

“I think it’s sweet,” she flashes her dimples and Steve gives her a pleased smile.

 

“ _MA… NO…LISTEN!_ ” they hear the loud voice from Danny’s office.

 

Kono cringes a little and then gestures with her thumb over her shoulder. “I’m just gonna…” and then she’s gone.

 

"Et tu Brute?" Steve scowls after her sounding betrayed, and then goes into his own office, dropping down in his chair and making a frustrated noise. He sorely wishes that everyone would get on-board with his idea for a surprise wedding.

 

His mood lifts significantly, though, when he opens his email and sees an entire inbox filled with RSVPs for the invitation he sent out the day before. Not surprisingly, perhaps, most of them express… surprise… at Steve’s plan, but to his great delight, every single person he invited has already replied in the affirmative. Steve grins; his op is starting to really take shape now.

 

xoxoxo

 

Twenty minutes later, Danny shuffles into his office and throws himself down onto Steve’s couch. “Oh God, just kill me now…” he moans into the arms slung across his face.

 

“What going on? What’d your mom want?” Steve asks innocently.

 

Danny lifts his arms and peers over at Steve. “My family is coming for a visit. My _entire_ family. For a week!”

 

“Hey, that’s great, Danny,” Steve says cheerfully.

 

Danny gives him a withering look. “It is _not_ great!”

 

“Why not?” Steve asks, getting a little nervous.

 

“I’ll tell you why not! Because they are coming on the 25th!”

 

“So?”

 

“So? So that’s not nearly enough time for me to prepare emotionally for an invasion of the Williams clan.”

 

“Danny, you’re not making any sense. What’s there to prepare for?”

 

Danny ignores Steve’s question. “And I don’t get it… why the hell would they all – and I mean _all_ , Steven – why would they all decide to come at the same time. And on such short notice? And how the hell are they affording it in the first place? Something about this is not right…”

 

Steve starts to get a little concerned - afraid that Danny might figure out what’s going on. “I, uh… I heard that airfares have been coming down. They probably just got a good deal.”

 

“For ten people! And what about the kids? They’re taking them out of school for this! They’ve got an ulterior motive and I’m going to figure out what it is…”

 

“Hey, Danny, don’t you think you should be spending your energy worrying about the gala you have to plan rather than trying to figure out what ulterior motive your family – who loves you, by the way – has for coming to visit,” Steve throws out, hoping to steer him away from the mystery. Steve’s not above inciting a little more panic in Danny to distract him if necessary.

 

“Oh, God! The _gala_! I completely forgot. They are going to be here at the same time. Jesus… how is this my life?” Danny laments. “I need to call Ma back and tell her they can’t come then…” he says, starting to get off the couch.

 

“No, hey, Danny!” Steve stand up quickly ands walks around his desk, leaning on the front of it. 

 

"What?"  Danny stops his forward motion to stand up and slumps back down into a sitting position.

 

Steve's mind is scrambling now.  “Maybe it’s perfect that they’ll be here then.”

 

“What could you possibly be talking about?” Danny asks, sounding like he thinks Steve has gone certifiably insane.

 

“Well, think of it this way. If they’re driving you crazy and you need a break from them, you can tell them you have stuff to do to get ready for the event. Or, if you actually need help, you could delegate some of it to them. I’m sure your mom and dad would be happy to help out. Stella and Steph, too, probably. And the kids will just want to hang out at the beach. It’ll be fine.”

 

Danny considers for a moment. “I _could_ put them to work… that’s not a bad idea…”

 

Steve beams.

 

“You have a devious mind, you know that?” Danny says, quirking a suspicious eyebrow at him.

 

Steve ignores that. “It’ll be fine, Danny. It’ll be great. I can’t wait to see your family.”

 

“And… I guess it _will_ be nice for them to meet Charlie,” Danny adds, looking up at Steve.

 

Steve feels like his breath is punched out of him; something that seems to happen a lot when he thinks about the little boy who has stolen both of their hearts. “Yeah,” Steve says gently. “And it’ll be really great for them to meet Charlie.”

 

xoxoxo

 

~~Confirm guest list~~


	8. In peril

 

_ Friday, January 8th _

 

Friday is one of those days of police work that Steve isn’t particularly fond of. It’s one of those days of tracking down witnesses, checking alibis, digging into motive and opportunity. Steve much prefers the action days, but it’s quiet and everyone is safe, so there is an upside to it.

 

The team regroups over lunch and shares what they’ve learned. Mainly, it’s that the Evans family seems to check out: the company is financially stable – lucrative even – so there doesn’t appear to be a strong motive there; they’re all squeaky clean – none of them have any priors; and, most importantly, Ricky and Robert left the gallery and drove directly to a cousin’s house (with Libby arriving before them) to watch the Cotton Bowl. Their cousin had gone to Michigan State, they’d explained, and his wife was from Alabama, so their entire extended family had gathered to good-naturedly participate in the rivalry and celebrate the New Year. There’s no reason to keep them high on the suspect list.  

 

Steve sits at his computer, sifting through articles about underground art sales. He had no idea that there was such a huge market for black market works of art, and that hundreds were stolen every year – the thefts often commissioned by wealthy collectors. Just a few years ago, a couple of guys broke into a small museum in Boston and walked off with millions of dollars’ worth of art – and there hasn’t been even a hint of a whisper about the paintings since then. They’d vanished – or rather, they’re probably sitting quietly in an unsavory collector’s home, almost anywhere in the world.

 

“Hey, Boss,” Steve looks up to see Kono standing in his doorway. “Do you mind if I take off a few minutes early? I have a visit scheduled with Adam...”

 

Steve’s heart wrenches when he sees the sadness on Kono’s face. She’s trying to be strong about the situation, but every now and then they can see her grief bleed through. “Of course, Kono. Go. See you tomorrow,” Steve waves her off.

 

He pushes himself back in his chair, sighing in frustration. They haven’t heard a peep on the streets about an available Moran painting and Steve is starting to wonder if it wasn’t stolen for a specific collector, and if that’s the case, they’ll probably never catch a whiff of it.

 

His thoughts turn again to Kono and Adam as he watches Kono grab her purse from her office and slip out the door. He feels for her. Just weeks into their marriage, and her husband…

 

_Oh shit!_ _Husband!_ Steve looks at his watch; it’s 4:52pm and the County Clerk’s office closes in 8 minutes! The County Clerk's office that is a 10-minute drive away in the best of traffic, even with the lights and siren going.

 

Steve grabs the file folder from his desk drawer and bolts out of his office, running through the bullpen.

 

“Hey! What’s going on?” he hears Danny yell as he darts past his office. “Steve! Hey…!”

 

“Everything’s fine!” he yells back, even as he’s running out the door. “I’ll be back in a little while!”

 

Steve jumps in the Camaro and flips on the lights and siren, squealing out of the parking lot as fast as he can. He looks at the dashboard clock: 4:54.

 

_Shit, shit, shit!_ Today is the deadline for the application for the marriage license to be filed in order for it to be ready to pick up on the 29 th. The very tiny, but severe-looking clerk who gave him the application had repeated that several times. They needed a full three weeks to process the application and have the background checks run. For good reason:  the county felt that it was necessary to inform all potential spouses if their betrothed was wanted on outstanding warrants or was a deadbeat parent or something.

 

Steve had told her that he’s a cop - pointing to the badge on his belt - and his fiancé is also a detective. But she had given him an unimpressed look and told him that there were no exceptions; if he wanted the marriage license by January 29th, he needed to submit the application by close-of-business on Friday, the 8th.

 

And now it’s… _2 minutes_ … to close-of-business and Steve is never going to get there in time. How could he have done this? How could he have messed this up? All his plans, the op - the entire wedding – _everything_ is in jeopardy now. _No, no, no, no, no_ … this _cannot_ happen… Steve punches the accelerator, driving as fast as he can through rush hour traffic in Honolulu.

 

The clock reads 5:03 when he screeches to a stop directly in front of the county courthouse (completely ignoring the loading zone/no parking signs), and bolts out of the car, not even bothering to shut the door behind him. He sprints up the front steps and pushes though the door past a security guard who was just about to lock the door.

 

“Hey! You can’t…!” the guard calls after him, but Steve doesn’t even slow.

 

“Five-0!” he yells over his shoulder. “Official business!” which isn’t strictly true, but, okay, Steve willing to stretch things a little bit considering what’s at stake here.

 

He races up the central stairs to the second floor and then down the hall to the County Clerk’s office, throwing himself against the door and… he bounces hard against it and falls on his ass.

 

No… _fuck!_ _No!_ The door is locked, the office is closed. But Steve can see the clerk he’d spoken to on Monday through the glass door inside the office, and he stands up and bangs hard on it.

 

“We’re closed!” she says with a disapproving look through the locked door.  

 

“Open up!” Steve demands, still pounding on the door. He’s in a state of complete panic now – his whole future is at stake – his eyes are wild and he cannot believe this is happening!

 

“You’re too late,” the woman inside says loudly through the locked door. “You’ll have to come back on Monday.”

 

“Monday’s too late!” Steve yells back. “Please… _please,_ you have to open up. I need to get this filed _today!_ ” his fist bangs on the window again, and then he sees her walking over toward the door and a flood of relief washes over him.

 

But then… wait… what is she…? He watches as she steps to the left of the door and reaches up and flicks off the light switch, plunging the room into darkness. Steve’s eyes go wide in disbelief and he stands frozen as he sees her retreat through a door behind the counter.

 

Okay… okay… Steve stops to regroup. His mind is racing – running a million miles an hour - as he tries to find a course-correction. He looks up at the dark room in front of him and he blinks in realization: if the clerk didn’t come out this door, there must be a back entrance. Steve peels down the hall and turns the corner, just in time to see a side door swinging inward. Before the clerk can step out, Steve’s there, startling her. She tries to push the door closed again - to keep him out - but he sticks his foot between the door and the jamb.

 

“What do you think you’re doing?” she asks loudly, sounding angry and just a little bit scared.

 

“You have to go back in and file this application,” Steve demands, shoving the folder at her through the small opening.

 

“I’ll do no such thing!” she states indignantly, pushing hard against the door to keep Steve out. “I told you, you’ll have to come back next week. You’re too late,” she is emphatic and she tries to push Steve’s foot out of the way with her own.

 

“Listen to me…” Steve starts, but is interrupted.

 

“Carol? What’s going on?” a tired-looking, middle-aged man asks as he pulls the door open from the inside.

 

“Oh, Hal, thank goodness,” she says, relief clear in her voice as she steps back to allow the door to swing free.

 

Steve recognizes the man as Harold Gentry, the elected County Clerk, and he turns to him to plead his case. “Hi, Mr. Gentry,” Steve rushes the words out. “I need to file this marriage license application _today_ and your clerk here isn’t being very cooperative.” He glares down at the petite woman.

 

“I’ve explained to this _gentleman_ …” her voice drips with sarcasm. “…that we’re closed for the day and he’ll need to come back on Monday.” She gives Steve a smug look.

 

Gentry is looking back and forth between the two of them and Steve sees when the lightbulb goes on. “Aren’t you..?”

 

So, yeah, Steve’s apparently willing to take advantage of his minor celebrity when the stakes are this high, so he thrusts out his hand to the man. “Steve McGarrett. It’s nice to meet you, Sir,” he adds the title of respect hoping to score a few extra points with him.

 

“Of course. Commander McGarrett,” he says, looking slightly awed, and Steve can’t miss the flicker of annoyance that passes over Carol’s face. “So, what seems to be the problem here?”

 

“Look, I’m getting married on January 30th, and I was told I have to file the marriage license application _by today_ in order to have it in time.”

 

“And I _told_ him that the office is closed for the day…” Carol starts, trying to preempt Steve’s plea.

 

“And I would have been here in plenty of time…” Steve continues, stepping between Carol and Mr. Gentry, “…but we spent the day chasing a murderer…” (and, alright, Steve is apparently not above a blatant lie when the stakes are this high), “… and we caught him,” (Gentry looks impressed), “…and then I got here as fast as I possibly could but was two minutes late, and your clerk here is not being very understanding.”

 

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Carol give him the stink-eye and Steve has to work hard to suppress a smirk.

 

“Carol,” Gentry starts, and she must hear something familiar in his tone because Carol lets out a frustrated huff. “There’s no real reason to be so entirely rigid all of the time. There’s nothing wrong with accommodating people in extraordinary circumstance. I think we can still take Commander McGarrett’s application today, don’t you?” he asks smoothly.

 

There’s a slight pause and Steve looks expectantly at the woman. “Of course, Hal,” she finally replies tightly, and then snatches the file folder from Steve’s hand before going back into the office and turning on the lights as she goes.

 

Five minutes later the papers are filed, and Carol has pushed him out the front door of the office, pointedly locking it behind him and snapping off the lights again.

 

Steve walks over to a bench in the darkned hallway and collapses onto it as the adrenaline that had been coursing through his body abruptly dissipates. He lets out a shaky breath and releases a quiet, humorless laugh when he sees his hands are trembling. _Christ_ , he knew he wanted to marry Danny, and bring Gracie and Charlie into his life in a formal way, but until ten minutes ago when he thought his op was about to fail, he was entirely clueless as to the depth of the emotions he’s carrying around. He watches the empty file folder shake in his hands; he may not have realized how much this op meant to him before, but he does now – his body revealing the truth of it.

 

Steve gives himself a few moments to just breathe and gather himself before he stands up to leave. He’ll need to come up with an explanation to Danny for bolting out of the Palace earlier, but for now, he pulls out his phone and opens the ‘notes’.

 

xoxoxo

 

~~File marriage license application~~

 

 

 

 

 

 


	9. Doing research

 

_ Saturday, January 9th _

 

Steve walks in from his morning swim, surprised to find Danny sitting at the dining room table, brow furrowed in concentration over his laptop. “What’re you doing?”

 

“Research…” comes the distracted reply.

 

Steve goes into the kitchen and pours himself a cup of coffee, then brings it and the carafe into the dining room, refilling Danny’s mug when he gets there.

 

“Cream,” Danny says, not looking up from his computer.

 

Steve rolls his eyes and heads back into the kitchen, returning the coffee carafe and grabbing the cream from the refrigerator. He sits down next to Danny after he pours a dollop of cream into his mug.

 

“What’re you researching?”

 

Danny sits back and rubs his hands over his face. “Flowers for centerpieces,” he growls in frustration.

 

“Really?” Steve laughs.

 

“Yes, really,” Danny glares at him.

 

“What’s there to research? Just call a florist and have them put something together – who cares?”

 

“Who cares? I’ll tell you who cares. _Paradise Found_ cares, because they are an eco-resort and so they will only allow eco-friendly, native species to be used at their facility, which you wouldn’t think would be that hard to do because there are a billion flowers on this island, but apparently a lot of them are introduced and not native. _And_ , our dear friend, Kelly Rushmore, is apparently allergic to all flowers in the Hibiscus family, so I have to cross-reference the available options from the florist, against the list of native species, against the list of plants in the Hibiscus family…” Danny’s gestures get more ‘enthusiastic’ as he talks.

 

“Sounds complicated,” Steve tells him, not without sympathy.

 

 _“It IS complicated!”_ Danny barks.

 

Steve’s eyebrows shoot up. “You think maybe you, uh, might be taking this a little too seriously?”

 

Danny turns in his seat to face Steve. “Did I not explain to you how my son’s entire future depends on the success of this event?”

 

“Danny, don’t you think you might be overstating…”

 

“ _NO!_ No, I am _not_ overstating the importance of this! I was arrested in front of my daughter’s class last year, Steven. If we want any chance of Charlie getting into this school, I have got to do something to make up for that…”

 

There’s a tension-filled pause as they both try to avoid discussing the events of the previous year.

 

“You know, Danny,” Steve says quietly, looking down at his hands instead of at his partner. “Maybe it’s okay if Charlie doesn’t go to that school,” Steve looks up to see Danny’s guilt-filled eyes. “There are other ways to make sure he gets the right start in life. You don’t need those people sitting in judgement of you and your family.”

 

Danny closes his eyes and exhales softly, then opens them again and turns back toward Steve. “Listen, I appreciate what you’re saying. I do. But this is important to Rachel, and I gotta get this right.”  Danny takes a deep breath and then lets it out, “…I can do this. I’d do anything for Charlie or Grace."

 

“I know you would. So would I.”

 

Danny smiles and the tension in the room breaks. “I know. Thanks, babe. Come ‘ere,” he says, grabbing Steve by the t-shirt and pulling him close to kiss him. “I love you,” he adds when they break apart.

 

“Mmm… Love you, too,” Steve murmurs back, then pulls Danny in for another kiss – deeper this time, and bordering on heated.

 

But Danny drags his mouth away after just a handful of seconds. “Whoa… whoa there… No, I cannot do this right now. I have to come up with something and get the order in by noon. Later… pretzel later, babe.”

 

Steve rests his forehead against Danny’s and sighs. “Okay… pretzel later. I’m holding you to that.”

 

Danny grins. “You better. I have to have something to look forward to.”

 

Steve bends in and steals one more quick kiss, then goes upstairs to shower and change. When he comes back downstairs, he grabs his laptop and sits down across the table from Danny. He’s got the ‘notes' feature on his phone synced with a spreadsheet on his computer so he can keep track of the plans with either.

 

“What are you doing?” Danny peers over at him.

 

“I have some work to do, too. Thought I’d keep you company.”

 

Danny shrugs. “Suit yourself.”

 

They work in companionable silence for a while, Danny researching flowers and Steve, unbeknownst to Danny, working on his own event plans.

 

“What do you think about these?” Danny asks after a while, turning his computer screen so Steve can see the picture of the brightly-colored flowers filling the screen.

 

“Those’re nice.”

 

“Yeah. They’re kind of pretty,” Danny mumbles, staring blankly at his computer.

 

Steve quirks an interested eyebrow and takes a closer look at the screen. He hadn’t really put much thought into centerpieces for the tables yet, but if Danny likes these, maybe Steve should order them for the back yard party…

 

“Argh! … I can’t believe I just said that! This is ridiculous! I _hate_ these flowers!

 

…or not.

 

“I think I hate _all_ flowers. What ever happened to a nice candle in the middle of a table for ambiance? Huh?”

 

It doesn’t sound entirely rhetorical to Steve so he answers the question. “Uh, I don’t know, Danny. Candles _are_ nice…”

 

“Yes. _Thank you_. Candles are nice…”

 

“Why don’t you just get some candles then?” Steve suggests.

 

Danny freezes and stares at Steve for a few seconds. “Oh my God. You’re a genius!” he says with enthusiasm. “Candles! Forget the stupid flowers – this event is at night – outside – we’ll get some candles…”

 

Before Danny can hunt and peck anything into his browser bar, Steve has already called up a search for hurricane candles and he turns his screen toward Danny.

 

“There… those,” Danny says definitively, pointing at one of the pictures on the screen. “Don’t you think those would be good?” he asks, sounding like he really wants Steve to think those would be good.

 

And, yes. Steve actually _does_ think they would be good. He could care less about the school gala, but the simple, classic glass cylinders that Danny is pointing at would be perfect on the tables in their back yard in a few weeks.

 

“I think they’d be great Danny,” he answers truthfully.

 

“What is that website?” Danny asks, craning to see the address in the browser bar and typing it into his own computer.

 

Steve watches as Danny pecks the words in, tongue poking out of his mouth a little as he concentrates while placing his order. He watches his partner for a minute and then turns back to his own computer, adds 15 of the hurricane candles in three different sizes to his own shopping cart, and quickly checks out.  

 

Xoxoxo

 

Steve watches his partner closely all day, knowing that when Danny opens the door to his demons even a crack, they can sometimes get the upper hand and overwhelm him, sending him into a downhill spiral. Danny seems slightly on-edge all day, but he seems to hold himself together and loosen up more as the day goes on.

 

But maybe still, that night, Steve spends some extra time taking Danny apart, fucking him torturously slow, sitting against the headboard, easing Danny down onto his cock. His hips move infinitesimally as he lightly strokes Danny, from root to head, not enough to come close to bringing him off, but enough to keep his cock rock-hard, angrily purple and weeping pre-come until Steve’s hand is wet with it.

 

“Steve… Steve…” Danny gasps, his forehead resting against Steve’s collarbone until Steve tips his head and brings their mouths together – soft and slow like the rest of them.

 

Danny’s half-gone and in that place where Steve knows he’s not thinking about anything but this exact moment, and how their bodies feel moving against each other. Danny’s not thinking about galas, or guilt, or Colombia, or Matty. He’s not thinking about lies, or three lost years or unknown prognoses. All he’s thinking about is Steve’s cock in his ass and Steve’s hand on his cock and Steve’s tongue in his mouth.

 

When Danny finally does come - much, much later - it’s with a choked, hoarse, abbreviated shout, and his body entirely collapses against Steve. They stay like that for long minutes, breathing hard and sweating, before Steve gently eases Danny back onto the bed and goes to get a warm cloth to wipe them both.

 

“Babe…” Danny murmurs, like he has more to say but can’t quite form the words.

 

“Shhh,” Steve answers and pulls the light blanket over the two of them. “Go to sleep, Danno,” he says, wrapping his arms around his partner.

 

And Danny does, and so does Steve, and they both sleep the night through with no sign of any demons at all.

 

xoxoxo

 

~~Centerpieces~~


	10. Getting lost

 

_ Sunday, January 10th _

 

Danny tells Steve that he needs to drive out to Paradise Found to review the venue with the catering manager and asks if he would mind doing the pick-up for Grace and Charlie. Steve agrees happily because he never minds helping out with Grace and Charlie and always looks forward to seeing them during their weeks.

 

If today, it also happens to give him the opportunity to let Rachel in on the wedding plan and ask her a couple of favors, then mores the better. He’s not 100% sure how she’ll respond, but things  _have_ been civil between all of them for about six months – since Danny had found his way clear to mostly forgiving Rachel and assuring Stan that he wouldn’t try to keep Charlie from him. Rachel and Stan are tenuously holding onto their marriage, but there is no doubt that things are still strained there. Steve isn’t sure if Stan will stay after things with Charlie have completely resolved. He hopes so, though. There is no doubt that the kids - especially Charlie - love Stan, so it would only hurt them if Stan decides to leave Rachel.

  

“Oh my. Oh _my_ ,” Rachel echoes the Governor's reaction when Steve tells her about the surprise wedding. “Really?”

 

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” Steve grumbles. They are sitting in her sunny kitchen over a cup of coffee.

 

“Well, maybe because Danny doesn’t exactly like surprises.”

 

“No, that’s not true,” Steve asserts. “He doesn’t like being surprised by bad things, but he likes good surprises. He blushes and gets all flustered, and he _pretends_ that he doesn’t like it, but he really does.”

 

Rachel gives Steve a discerning look. “You know?… I think you’re right. I think, Commander,” she says, falling back on her old formality, “that you know Danny better than I ever did. You certainly know him well enough to know that he does not want to participate in planning his own wedding. Did he tell you how much he hated every minute of planning ours?” she asks ruefully.

 

“Um… he may have mentioned that it was a little stressful,” Steve says, trying to be diplomatic.

 

“Indeed,” Rachel laughs. “So, how can I help?”

 

“Well, a couple of things, actually. I was hoping that you could take Grace and find her a nice dress. I thought she’d be a perfect flower girl.”

 

“Well that’s easy enough. Grace will certainly never complain about going shopping!”

 

“And, does Charlie have a little suit or something? If not, we could rent him a little tuxedo.  I'd like him to be the ring-bearer.”

 

“No, Charlie does have a suit. We bought him one several months ago for Stan's niece's wedding, but with him being sick, he hasn’t grown a lot. I think it should still fit, but I’ll check to be sure and make other arrangements if not.”

 

“Thanks, Rachel. That’s really helpful,” Steve tells her. “I kind of thought we probably shouldn’t tell Charlie yet – maybe not ‘til the last minute.”

 

“I think you’re right about that. Four-year-olds are definitively  _not_ good at keeping secrets,” Rachel huffs. “Will you tell Grace?”

 

“Oh, yeah. I was planning to tell her today.”

 

“She’s going to be very excited.”

 

Steve smiles a little nervously. “I hope so.”

 

Rachel reaches over and covers Steve's hand with her own.  “She loves you, Steve. She’s going to be happy, I guarantee it.”

 

“Thanks."  Steve clears his throat.  "So, Rachel, I have one more thing I’m hoping you can help with…” Steve starts tentatively.

 

“Okay,” Rachel replies, reading Steve’s tone and slightly wary.    

 

“Look, Danny volunteered to run that art auction gala for Grace’s school.”

 

“So I heard,” Rachel replies with amusement in her voice.

 

“But it turns out that that gala is the same day as I’m planning for the wedding.”

 

“Oh… that’s an unfortunate bit of timing. Can you change the date of the wedding?”

 

“Not really. If we want to use the overlook for the ceremony, then the 30th is pretty much our only option.”

 

“I see…”

 

“Anyway, I was wondering if you would maybe be able to cover for Danny that night…”

 

“I’m sorry, Steve, but I can’t help you with that,” Rachel says, to Steve’s keen disappointment.

 

“Rachel, I know you think Danny needs to help out at the school more, but…”

 

“Steve,” Rachel interrupts him. “It has nothing to do with that. Stan and I are going to be in New York that week. He has business for a couple of days but then we are going to spend some time together, just the two of us, in neutral territory, so to speak - away from here and Las Vegas - and try to figure things out between us. We won’t get home until Sunday evening. In fact I was going to ask you and Danny for a favor and ask if you could keep the kids until later than usual on that Sunday.”

 

“Oh,” Steve responds, knowing how important that time will be for Rachel.

 

“I  _am_ sorry. I would do it if I were going to be here.”

 

“Right. Of course. I understand, Rachel. And, of course, we’ll be happy to keep the kids.”

 

“Even though you’ll be on your honeymoon?” Rachel asks, one eyebrow arched.

 

Steve blushes and then clears his throat. “Uh, I think we’ll do something a little later…” he tells her awkwardly. He hasn’t actually started planning the honeymoon yet.

 

She smiles at his modesty. “Anyway, I’m happy for you. I know Danny wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about the process of planning our wedding, so I’m sure he’ll be thrilled that he doesn’t have to this time ‘round,” she laughs.

 

"Yeah..." Steve answers distractedly, already trying to come up with another solution for the problem of the wedding/gala conflict.

 

“You know, there’s another PTA meeting tomorrow. Perhaps if you go and explained the situation…”

 

“I would except that Danny is going to be at that meeting to report on his progress. I can’t exactly explain everything if he’s right there.”

 

“Oh, Commander,” she pointedly uses his military title. “After everything I’ve heard about your resourcefulness, I can’t believe that you can’t figure out a way around that minor detail.”

 

Steve eyes her for a second and slowly nods his head as an idea comes to him. “Yeah… yeah, you’re right. I think I can work a way around that.”

 

She gives Steve a knowing smile and pats him on the arm. “I’ll go get the kids,” she says, standing up and leaving the room.

 

xoxoxo

 

“I’m lost,” Danny says woefully in his ear when Steve answers his phone. “Both literally and metaphorically.”

 

“What does that mean?” Steve asks him. He’s just gotten back to the house with the kids and Charlie has already dragged Grace up to his room to play with his Legos.

 

“What do you think it means. I don’t know where I am. I’m driving around in circles looking for this Paradise Found – which, by the way, I am now officially christening Paradise Lost – and it’s not where it’s supposed to be. Can you pull up the car’s GPS on your computer and tell me where the hell I am supposed to go?”

 

“Danny, you have a GPS on your phone, you know.”

 

“I hate that woman in that thing,” Danny complains. “She’s bossy and demeaning and I can never figure it out anyway.”

 

Steve smothers a fond laugh at his partner. He knows Danny is completely capable of handling almost any tech device, and he sees this for what it is; Danny is frustrated and wants to talk to Steve.

 

“Hang on,” Steve tells him, and opens his laptop. “What’s the address of Paradise Lost?”

 

Danny smiles that Steve has so readily adopted his new name for the place and rattles off the address.

 

“Danny, you’re nowhere near the place. What the hell are you doing way out there?”

 

“I don’t know! I told you I was lost!”  

 

“Okay. Settle down, buddy. Take the next right and take that for a couple of miles and that’ll get you back out to the highway. Then you want to go left and it looks like about 5 miles after that.”

 

“ _Five mi…!_ Goddammit! How the hell did I end up so far away?”

 

“Yeah, that’s what I just said,” Steve points out.

 

Danny curses under his breath for several seconds and Steve’s pretty sure he hears disparaging remarks about the PTA in general and Kelly Rushmore, in particular. Steve doesn’t hang up though, and instead steps outside to the lanai and sits down in a chair.

 

After a few more moments of silence, Steve asks, “So, what did you mean literally _and metaphorically?_ ”

 

He hears Danny sigh on the other end of the line but he doesn’t say anything for a long moment; Steve waits him out.

 

“I don’t have a clue what I’m doing,” Danny finally says. “Why the hell did I volunteer for this? I am so far out of my depth here, thinking I can plan a gala - _a gala, Steven!_ \- for a bunch of snobby, rich women. I think… I think I just gotta tell Kelly that she has to find someone else. I can’t do this, Steve. I can’t.”

 

Steve should be ecstatic. This is exactly what he wants to hear – _that he doesn’t have to worry that Danny won’t actually be available to be at his own wedding._ But the discouragement he hears in Danny’s voice is breaking his heart, and he knows how much his partner wants to feel like he’s doing right by his son. That’s Steve’s only explanation for what comes out of his mouth next.

 

“Danny, you let doctors _drill a hole into your hip_ and suck out your bone marrow for your son. Are you going to tell me that you can do that, but you can’t plan a little party for him?” Steve goads him. “I know you, Danny. And I know that when it comes to Grace or Charlie there isn’t anything you can’t or won’t do. You can do this, I know you can.”

 

There’s a long pause. “You really think so?” Danny asks dubiously.

 

“I _know_ it, Danny,” he answers with confidence.

 

There’s another long pause. “Okay… okay. Yeah… I’ll… okay, I can do this. Thanks,” Danny says and Steve can hear the resolve in his voice.

 

“You’re welcome,” Steve says softly. Then, “Hey, I got the kids.”

 

“Thanks, babe. I really appreciate that.”

 

“It’s no problem, Danny. You know that.”

 

“Yeah, I know. But I still appreciate it. What’re they doing?”

 

“Last I saw them, Charlie was dragging Grace upstairs…”

 

“Legos?”

 

“Good guess.”

 

“Not a guess,” Danny huffs. “Oh, hey, I made it - I'm at Paradise Lost!”

 

“Okay. Go plan your gala, Danno. I’m gonna go see if I can get Charlie to take a nap.”

 

There’s a beat of silence. Steve can hear Danny turn the Camaro off, but he doesn’t hear him get out of the car. “You know, maybe between the two of us, we’ll be able to make sure he’s okay.”

 

Steve’s throat gets tight when he hears the hopefulness in Danny’s voice. “He’s gonna be fine, Danno,” he croaks out.

 

“Yeah. Listen, Steve…”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“It’s a lot, I know… The responsibility for the kids,” Danny starts. “I don’t want you to feel like you…”

 

“Danny, don’t finish that sentence. There isn’t anything in this world that _I_ wouldn’t do for those kids either. You know that, right?”

 

“Yeah, I do.” Danny pauses and then Steve hears him suck in a deep breath. “So, listen… uh, thanks for… helping me find my way,” Danny adds.

  

Steve can tell by the way that Danny says it that he means more than just him giving directions to Paradise Lost. Danny’s great at ranting and sounding like he’s expressing his emotions, but that’s usually all just bluff and bluster. It’s these often-strained, quieter moments when Danny stumbles over his words and says things obliquely, that Steve has figured out are when Danny is really speaking from his heart. And it’s crystal clear in Steve’s mind that before he met Danny, he, himself, was lost and adrift, too, but Danny and Grace - and now Charlie - have finally given new direction and meaning to his life.  

 

They’re really not good at saying these things to each other, though, so Steve clears his throat and does the best he can. “The feeling’s mutual,” he manages.

 

After a few seconds of silence, Steve hears Danny opening the door to the Camaro. “Okay, I gotta go, babe. Tell the kids I’ll be there in a couple of hours.”

 

“Will do,” he says, and as he cuts the connection, a sudden flash of inspiration comes to Steve, and he knows _exactly_ what he’s going to engrave on Danny’s ring.

 

xoxoxo

 

Steve gets Charlie down for a nap a short time later and then pokes his head into Grace’s room where she’s sitting on her bed doing homework. “Hey, Gracie. Got a minute?”

 

She looks up and smiles at him. “Sure, Uncle Steve. What’s up?”

 

Steve moves over to sit at the end of her bed. “So, I have to tell you something, but it’s a secret and you can’t tell Danno or Charlie…”

 

A half hour later, after going through everything he’d planned so far with Grace – and with his ears still ringing from her squeals of excitement (thank goodness Charlie sleeps like a rock) - Steve walks downstairs and pulls up the spreadsheet on his computer.

 

xoxoxo

 

~~Talk to Rachel re: dress for Grace/suit for Charlie~~

~~Tell Grace~~

~~Decide on engraving for Danny’s ring~~

Get Danny out of the gala!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	11. Dealing with an injury

 

 

**_ Monday, January 11th _ **

 

Monday morning, Chin and Lou head over to the crime lab to check if the mud residue they found in the alley behind the gallery has revealed anything, and Steve and Danny start by running checks on Ms. Winfield’s housekeeper, Janette Lewis, and her lawyer, Craig Norlund. After a couple hours of digging, they find nothing to suggest either of them may have been involved in the theft. But just before lunch, Kono calls Steve and Danny into the bullpen and tells them that she’s been checking into Jennifer Horowitz, the attorney’s paralegal, who assisted with some of the paperwork for Ms. Winfield’s donation and was aware of when the painting was being moved. Kono reports that she hasn’t been able to account for Ms. Horowitz’s whereabouts on New Year’s Eve, _and_ , she deposited $10,000 in cash into her savings account on that same day.

 

“Is she at work today?” Steve asks.

 

“Norlund’s got another office in Pearl City and on Mondays and Wednesday’s she works up there. I called and she’s there today,” Kono answers.

 

This is perfect.

 

“Okay, after lunch, you and Danny run up there and talk to her,” Steve tells them and then turns to go back to his office.

 

“Whoa, whoa…” Danny stops him. “ _Me_ and Kono?”

 

“Yeah, Danny. Is there a problem?” Steve asks, quirking an eyebrow at him. Steve's not above playing the mean boss when he has to. And today, he definitely has to.

 

Danny flicks a sidelong glance at Kono and then back to Steve. “You know I have that meeting at 3:00…”

 

“Sorry, Danny. I have to meet with the Governor at 2:00. If you go right after lunch, you should be back in plenty of time.”

 

Danny huffs out a frustrated noise. “Famous last words,” he mutters, walking back to his office.

 

Once he’s gone, Steve drops his voice and whispers to Kono, telling her what he needs her to do.  

 

xoxoxo

 

Steve’s phone rings at 2:45.

 

“Famous last words, that’s what I said, isn’t it!” he hears Danny yelling.

 

“Danny… what…?” Steve starts disingenuously, before his partner cuts him off.

 

“I _knew_ something like this would happen. I _knew_ it! But you had to insist I come up to Pearl City…!”

 

“Danny, what happened?” Steve asks, injecting false concern into his voice.

 

“Kono… she…”

 

“What? Is she okay?” Steve sounds appropriately worried.

 

“ _She’s_ fine. It’s my _car!_ She… _injured_ my car!” Steve can practically hear Danny tearing his hair out.

 

“What do you mean she _injured_ your car?”

 

“I mean, she insisted on driving out here - just like you always do, and for some stupid reason I let her - and then when we got out here after trying to talk to the paralegal, it won’t start! She did something to the Camaro– she _injured it!_ ”

 

“Danny, that’s ridiculous. Kono didn’t injure your car just by driving it.”

 

This was technically true. Once Danny had moved out of hearing range this morning, Steve and Kono conspired together about how to delay Danny in Pearl City so that he’d miss the PTA meeting. Once they got inside the attorney’s office, Kono turned to Danny and told him that she’d left her phone in the car and ran back out to get it, stopping for an extra 30 seconds to pop the hood and loosen the spark plugs.

 

“Well, then, genius, explain to me how my car could be working fine one minute and the next it’s not?” Danny’s voice is getting louder by the second.

 

“I have no idea, Danny," and, okay, _that_ was technically a lie.  "But what’s the big deal? Just… calm down and call a tow truck.”

 

“Calm down? You want me to calm down? I _told_ you this would happen…”

 

“You did not tell me this would happen, Danny,” Steve smirks.

 

“What am I gonna do now? Huh? Those PTA mavens are going to crucify me if I don’t show up at the meeting today. That Kelly Rushmore is already hounding me day and night…”

 

“Danny, I’ll tell you what, I can go the meeting..."

 

“ _You’ll_ go to the meeting? _Why?_ They do not need a killing machine at the PTA meeting, though God knows, in this one instance I might not entirely mind if you opened a can of SEAL whoop-ass on them.”

 

That one actually stops Steve cold. “SEAL whoop-ass?”

 

“Yeah, you know… when you go all crazy and a lot of people end up rolling around on the ground in pain.”

 

“I do not do that.”

 

“You do not..?” Danny sounds incredulous. “ _Yes,_ you _do_ do that. I have _seen_ you do that – many, _many_ times!”

 

“Okay, I may concede the point…”

 

“He concedes the point,” Danny says and Steve’s not quite sure who he’s talking to.

 

“Look, anyway, Danny, I can go to the meeting and fill them in on the progress you’ve made.”

 

“You’ll… what? Seriously?”

 

“Yeah, seriously. I’m done with my meeting with the Governor, so I can go and give them your update.”

 

There is complete silence on the other end of the line for several seconds.

 

“…You’d do that?”

 

Steve huffs. “Stop sounding so surprised, Danny. Of course I would. I know everything you’ve planned – I’ve been listening to you complain about it non-stop for the last several days.”

 

“Um… okay… that… maybe could work.”

 

“It’ll work, Danny. It’ll be fine. And then while I’m there, I’ll get Grace and then go get Charlie and we’ll all meet you at home later, okay?”

 

“Well… thank you, then… I guess.”

 

“You’re welcome. And now I should probably hang up because if I don’t, I’ll never get there in time,” Steve says from his truck already sitting outside the school.

 

“Oh, right. Yes, go!” Danny tells him. “And don’t be late!”

 

“See you later, Danno,” Steve says, and he’s about to hang up when he hears Danny again.

 

“Wait! Steven, wait!”

 

“Yeah, Danno?”

 

“Do _not_ volunteer me for anything else - do you hear me?” Danny says emphatically.

 

“Trust me, Danny, that’s absolutely the _last_ thing I would want to do!”

 

"And no whoop-ass!!"

 

xoxoxo

 

“I don’t seem to see Mr. Williams here,” Kelly Rushmore says pointedly, scanning the room.

 

Steve stands up from his chair in the back, raising his hand a little. “Uh, hi…”

 

“Yes?” the PTA president replies.

 

“Yeah, hi, I’m Steve McGarrett…”

 

“Oh, yes, _of course_. Mr. McGarrett. You’re the head of 5-0!” she says smoothly, eyeing him with appreciation.  

 

“Yes, ma’am,” Steve smiles and nods, turning on the charm the best he can. He’s not above using whatever tactics he can to get what he needs here today.    

 

“What can we do for you, Mr. McGarrett?”

 

“Uh, I’m here to give Detective Williams’ report for him,” Steve says, making a point of using Danny’s rank.

 

“Oh, I see. That’s… slightly unusual,” Kelly Rushmore says, and it occurs to Steve that she’d be furrowing her brow if it weren’t Botox’d into the next century.

 

“Sorry. Detective Williams was unavoidably detained on a case we’re investigating, but he filled me in on everything so…”

 

“Oh, well, alright then. Please, go ahead,” she gushes, smiling a little too much at him.

 

Steve spends several minutes letting them know what Danny has accomplished so far, and there are approving smiles and head-nods all around.

 

“Well, thank you so much for covering for Mr. Williams today, Mr. McGarrett. It really was so nice of you to take time out from what I’m sure must be very important business to be here,” she gives him one last salacious smile and then looks down at her papers. “Okay, next on the agenda… Caroline, can you fill us in on how the class art projects are coming along?”

 

“Um, excuse me," Steve interrupts.  "But if I may, I have something else I need to discuss with you all.”

 

“Yes?” she asks, a not entirely approving smile on her face this time.

 

“So, this is actually kind of funny…” Steve says, looking around the room at the moms gathered there, and they’re all staring at him. Steve swallows thickly; they look like a tough crowd, but Steve’s faced worse and been trained to exploit their weaknesses. So he takes a deep breath, and explains the situation.

 

When he informs them all that he and Danny are together, he’s sure he sees Kelly Rushmore’s face flicker in disappointment, but by the time he’s finished telling them about the surprise and the rings and the Governor and how they can only get the overlook for that brief window of time, and about Danny’s entire family coming to town for the wedding, and Kono ‘injuring’ Danny’s car so Steve could be here today instead of Danny… well, all the women – even Ms. Rushmore - are veritably cooing over how charming and sweet and romantic Steve is, and yeah, Smooth Dog’s got them pretty much eating out of the palm of his hand.

 

“So how can _we_ help, Mr. McGarrett?” Kelly Rushmore asks giddily, sounding much more like a fifteen-year-old girl than a society doyen.

 

“So, actually, all I really need is for someone to run the gala on the night of 30th if Danny’s not there. He’ll still take care of all the planning and getting things ready,” Steve assures them. “In fact, it’s kind of great that he’s got this to distract him so he maybe doesn’t pick up on what I’m doing.”

 

“Oh, it’s so romantic!” one of the moms practically swoons, and there is more general murmuring of delight in the room.

 

“I’ll do it,” another of the moms says quickly.

 

“I’ll help, too,” yells another. “Oh! It’ll be such fun knowing I’ve been able to help you with your surprise, Mr. McGarrett.”

 

“Uh, thanks,” Steve answers, slightly creeped-out by how overly-enthusiastic the women seem to be.

 

There’s still some general ruckus in the room as the women continue to whisper and titter, but Kelly Rushmore has apparently realized that flirting with Steve will get her nowhere and so she finally takes back control with her metaphorical iron fist. “Alright. Well, it looks like we’ve got that settled. Thank you, Colette and Barbara, for agreeing to help at the gala. And thank you, Mr. McGarrett, for filling us in on the gala progress, and of course, for sharing your news. But, we _do_ need to move on now.”

 

The murmuring quiets a bit but doesn’t go away entirely despite pointed looks from Ms. Rushmore, but they move on to Caroline’s report on the class art projects, nonetheless. Apparently, each class is creating one piece of art to be auctioned off at the gala, and Steve tries to pay attention so he can report back to Danny in case he needs to know it for any reason, but before long, he’s got the ‘notes’ section open on his phone.

 

xoxoxo

 

Steve and Grace walk out of the school at 4:06, the meeting having ended precisely at 4:00. He’s filling her in on the outcome and she’s practically vibrating with excitement.

 

“I knew you could do it, Uncle Steve,” she says happily.

 

Steve looks over his shoulder at the cluster of women that are exiting the building behind them. They’re all casting knowing looks his way and still whispering to each other.

 

Steve bends in to speak softly so that they won’t hear him. “I’m glad _you_ were so confident, Gracie. I was kinda worried for a little while, there; those women are a tough crowd,” he tells her conspiratorially, glancing at them again.

 

“Steve! Grace!” they hear and both look up to see Danny approaching them at a jog. He’s darting wary glances over Steve’s shoulder at the small gathering of women who have stopped just outside the doors.

 

Steve is surprised; he expected Danny to be delayed at least another hour or two. “Danny, how’d you get here? I thought Kono injured your car in Pearl City.”

 

Danny’s a little breathless from running from the parking lot around the corner. “I don’t know what got into her. I told her to check the spark plugs and she said they were fine, and then we were waiting for the tow truck and I took a look myself, and it turned out they were a little loose. I tightened them up and the car started – no problem.” He looks behind Steve at the women again. “I thought maybe I could get here in time for the last part of the meeting, but it looks like it’s done, huh?”

 

“Uh, yeah. We finished about 5 minutes ago.”

 

“Why are those women looking at us like that?” Danny asks, scowling first at them, then turning it on Steve. “What did you do, Steven?”

 

“Nothing,” he says, grabbing Danny’s arm and pulling him away from the school. “The meeting went great. Everything’s fine.”

 

Danny keeps peering back over his shoulder. “Then why are they looking at us funny?”

 

“Who knows, Danny? Come on, let’s just go.”

 

“Did you flirt with them?” Danny asks suspiciously, noticing how they seem to be smiling at Steve. Agitated, he stops their forward progress. “Is that what you did? Did you lead those women on in some way?”

 

Steve laughs. “Danny, I swear, I did not in any way imply that I was interested in any of those women – just the opposite, in fact.”

 

“What does that mean?”

 

“It means, that if any parent at this school had any doubt as to the nature of our relationship before, they won’t anymore. Now, come on… let’s go get Charlie.”

 

Danny hesitates a second longer until Grace grabs his hand. “Come on, Danno, let’s go,” she cajoles, assisting Steve in his effort to put as much space between Danny and the group of uber-moms. “I have a lot of homework tonight.”

 

Danny takes one more, quick look at the women gathered near the school entrance. “You know what? I don’t wanna know…” he says and lets Grace drag him away.

 

“Hey, Gracie, go hop in the truck, I need to talk to your dad for a minute,” he tells her, handing her his keys.

 

Grace rolls her eyes and snatches the keys away, making a show of stomping off. They don’t talk about their cases around the kids – ever – even the seemingly tame ones like this. It’s something they’ve discussed ad nauseam with each other, and with Rachel and Stan. Their work takes them to dark places sometimes – too often – so it’s primarily to keep the kids safe, but they’re also hoping to avoid exposing them to the seamy underbelly of life.

 

“What’d you find out about the paralegal?” Steve asks Danny once Grace is out of earshot.

 

“She wasn’t there. All the way out there, a broken car, missed the meeting, and all for nothing.” Danny complains.

 

“Whaddaya mean, she wasn’t there? Kono said she was working in Pearl City today.”

 

“Right, but apparently she suddenly got sick right before lunch and went home.”

 

“Huh…”

 

“Yeah. Huh. We’ll track her down tomorrow. Can you take Grace home? I’ll go get Charlie.”

 

“Yeah, sure. See you at home.”

 

xoxoxo

 

~~Get Danny out of the gala!~~

 

 

 


	12. Visiting another country

 

 

_ Tuesday, January 12th _

 

Steve sits at his computer while eating a salad at lunchtime, flipping through websites of caterers. He’s been trying to figure out what to do about the party after the wedding. Kamekona had offered to cater, but Steve had had to gently turn him down. It wasn’t that they didn’t all like his food, it was just that they ate it an awful lot already so it wouldn’t exactly feel… special.

 

Steve would love to do a traditional Hawai’ian pig roast, but the pit would need to be dug the day before and he didn’t think there was any way that Danny would miss that going on in the back yard – distracted by his own event or not. Not to mention the fact that it might hit a little close to home for Danny and drag up memories about Meka. No, a pig roast was out.

 

As he’s finishing his salad, he looks up to see Danny walk in from the hallway carrying a bag – probably his lunch - and go into his office, and Steve is up immediately to go talk to him. Danny and Rachel took Charlie to a doctor appointment this morning and Steve is anxious to know how it went. As soon as he walks out of his office, though, he’s stopped by Officer Pua, who has some documents for him to sign. He scratches out his signature as fast as he can and then pushes past Pua to get to Danny’s office.

 

As he approaches he can see that Danny is leaning back in his chair, eyes closed and his feet are propped up on his desk. He’s got a take-out plate resting on his chest and he’s chewing on something.

 

“Hey, Danny…”

 

“Shhhhhhh,” Danny whispers.

 

Steve looks at him in confusion and tries again, whispering this time. “Danny…”

 

“Shhhhh. No, I’m not here…” Danny whispers back.

 

Steve frowns at him. “Okay, uh… _where_ are you?” he whispers.

 

“If you would just stop talking, I can maintain the illusion that I’m in Italy. So, please… stop talking,” he whispers and then Steve sees him pick up a piece of pizza from his chest and take another bite – eyes still closed.

 

Oh, Steve gets it now. Danny must have stopped at Tony’s for a slice on his way back from the clinic. A few months ago, Danny had been ecstatic to discover the pizzeria near Charlie’s doctor’s office. The place looked like a dump but Tony was from New York and, according to Danny, _knew_ pizza. Danny had come back raving about it – about how it was the best pizza he’d ever found on this rock and that when he ate it, he was transported to the little Italian village that his great-grandparents were from.      

 

Since then, he’d dragged Steve and the rest of the team there several times, trying to drum into them what good pizza – _real_ pizza - really is. Steve didn’t want to admit it to Danny, but he was starting to see the appeal, and if pressed, he might concede that he likes it.  

 

What he’d really like is to see Danny in his element – in Italy, sitting al fresco at a little pizzeria, and…

 

 _Of course!_ Why the hell hadn’t he thought of this before? He’d take Danny to Italy for their honeymoon! A year ago, Danny had hated that Grace was gone to Italy for the whole month of January – he’d missed her badly - but when Danny would look at the pictures she’d send him every day, Steve saw something else in Danny’s eyes… a barely restrained enthusiasm.

 

He stands in the doorway and watches Danny with fondness, imagining how his face would be bright with excitement in Italy, rattling off facts about the country and dragging Steve from one little hole-in-the-wall to the next, stuffing his face with the thing he loves most in the world.   He is lost in his thoughts for a few moments until his partner sighs and then opens his eyes, pulling his feet off the desk and sitting upright again.

 

“You are a buzzkill, babe,” Danny complains.

 

“What did I do?” Steve objects. “I didn’t even say anything!”

 

Danny grabs the napkin from under his chin and wipes his mouth, waving him off. “Your hulking presence ruined my ambiance. You’re not welcome in my imaginary Italy.”

 

“Sorry to ruin your psychosis, buddy,” he laughs.

 

Danny grunts in dissatisfaction and stands up, stretching a little.

 

“What about real Italy, Danny?” Steve can’t resist asking. “Would I be welcome there with you?”

 

“Oh, well, _that_ would be a different story,” he says, looking around at the empty bullpen before giving Steve a quick kiss and then brushing past him. “You would definitely be welcome there.”

 

“Yeah? Why’s that?” Steve asks him, pleased, and following closely behind his partner as he walks to the small break area to throw his garbage away.

 

“Because in my fantasies, you and I are on the Cinque Terra, where you are feeding me olives and pizza all day and fucking me all night,” Danny answers, his voice low and suggestive.

 

A vivid picture flashes in Steve’s head and… okay, yeah… so, Italy is definitely the right answer. But this is not the time or place for those kinds of thoughts.

 

“Danny,” Steve whispers. “We’re at work,” he reminds him, because sometimes Steve is capable of being an appropriate boss.

 

Danny shrugs and gives him a wicked smile. “You asked…” he points out.

 

But Steve is distracted by that image that won’t quite leave his brain alone, and a few seconds later, he realizes that Danny has left the room. He shakes the image from his head (or tries anyway) and turns to find Danny futzing at the tech table.

 

“Hey, how’s Charlie?” he asks, because this was what he had sought Danny out about in the first place.

 

“He’s good,” Danny answers, not looking up from where his fingers are tapping at the table. “There’s no change in the numbers, so that’s… good.”

 

Steve can hear that Danny’s forcing himself to sound more upbeat than he is, and his stomach drops a little at the report. No change in the numbers is better than lower numbers, but not as great as higher numbers. Charlie’s been plateaued for a while now, and while that’s not necessarily bad news, they’d all been hoping for improvement.

 

“He’s gonna be okay, Danny,” Steve tries to reassure him.

 

“Yeah… I know he will,” Danny says, _still_ not looking toward Steve and his words are clipped – Danny’s tell for when he wants to put an end to the conversation.

 

Steve knows it’s hard for Danny to talk about Charlie’s condition and his potential prognosis, so he doesn’t press him any further. He got the answer he was looking for and that’s enough for now, so he looks to move the conversation along and is glad to see Chin heading their way.

 

“Hey,” Chin says as he walks into the bullpen. “I just got a call from the hospital. Sean Kamihana is starting to wake up.”

 

“Can he talk to us?”

 

“The doctors think maybe tomorrow he’ll be alert enough to answer some questions. But they’re still not sure if there’s any brain damage or not.”

 

“Okay, we’ll go over there tomorrow to try to talk to him. Meanwhile, Kono and I tracked down the paralegal this morning.”

 

“How’s she look?” Danny asks.

 

Steve makes a dismissive noise. “Turns out she was out partying on New Year’s Eve with some friends. We’ve got security footage from a couple different places starting with happy hour at 5:30, right when she got off work. She wasn’t anywhere near the gallery all night.”

 

“Doesn’t mean she couldn’t have been involved,” Danny points out. “What about the ten grand in her account?”

 

“A year-end bonus from her boss, Norlund. He confirmed it.”

 

“Why don’t we get year-end bonuses like that?” Danny turns with his hands in his pockets and looks up at Steve curiously.

 

Steve gives him a side-long glance and ignores the remark.

 

“Alright, this case is going nowhere fast. Let’s see if we can dig up any known associates on everyone that we know was aware that the painting was moved that day. Chin, take the Evanses, Danny, Sean Kamihana and Bryce Cole. When Lou and Kono get back from lunch, I’ll have them run down Norlund, his paralegal, and Ms. Winfield and her housekeeper.”

 

“What’re you gonna do?” Danny asks Steve.

 

“I’m going to pay a visit to our friend, Barry Burns, and see if there’s any word on the street about the painting.”

 

xoxoxo

 

By the end of the day, they’ve all got exactly nothing and the case is stalled once again. Steve, however, was able to call a travel agent from the car on the way back to the Palace and get the ball rolling to plan a honeymoon to Italy – so the day isn’t a complete loss.

 

xoxoxo

 

 ~~Honeymoon?~~ Cinque Terre, Italy!


	13. Blind

 

_ Tuesday, January 13th _

 

First thing the next morning, Steve and Danny head over to the hospital to see if Sean Kamihana is able to talk to them. The good news is that the doctors say that he doesn’t appear to have suffered any permanent brain damage. Unfortunately, the bad news is that he doesn’t remember anything about the day in question – which is not, apparently, unusual with nitrous oxide overdoses. The last thing he does remember is saying good-bye to his aunt before he went to a job somewhere else two days before New Year’s Eve.  

 

Their next stop is Sean’s house to speak to his aunt. Sean had told them that he typically did talk to her about the details of his jobs, but that there was no way she had discussed it with anyone else. It never hurt to check.

 

xoxoxo

 

“Are you from the service?” an impatient man in his 30s blurts at them as soon as the door opens at Sean Kamihana’s house.

 

“What? No, we’re from 5-0,” Steve points to the badge on his belt.

 

“You’re police?”

 

“Yeah. Who’re _you?_ ” Danny retorts.

 

“James Kamihana. Are you here about my cousin?”

 

“Are you Sean Kamihana’s cousin?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“So… do you live here together?” Danny asks.

 

“Yeah, you could say that, I guess,” he answers, opening the door wide for them and turning to walk further into the house. “Sean and I take care of my mom,” James says distractedly while he picks up scattered newspapers and other things from the table, apparently looking for something. “He takes care of her during the day and I’m here at night. We hardly ever see each other unless he doesn’t have a job on a weekend – which isn’t very often… maybe once a month. So, it might be a stretch to say we live together,” he makes a frustrated noise as he pulls up the couch cushions and doesn’t find what he’s looking for.

 

“Do you ever talk to him about this jobs?” Steve queries him.

 

He stops searching and looks at them and after a beat, says, “No. Like I said, we hardly see each other. And, no offence, but I don’t exactly find the world of contract security fascinating conversation. When we talk, we talk about Mom, or sports,” James shrugs. “Unfortunately, with Sean in the hospital, I have to use a service to send home health care aides, but they’re always late! I was hoping you were her,” he looks past them and out the front window.

 

“Where do you work?” Steve queries him and James’ gaze turns sharply back in their direction.

 

“Why?” he asks defensively, taking up his search again.

 

Steve shrugs. “Just curious.”

 

He eyes them a moment before responding. “I work at Hickham. And _no,_ I’m not in the Air Force. I’m a civilian engineering tech.” He pulls the last cushion up and then throws it back down again in frustration and it lands slightly askew.

 

“So, you and Sean take care of your mom?” Danny asks.

 

James fully stops moving again and turns toward them. He reaches up and drags a hand down his face. “She’s got dementia. She can’t take care of herself.”

 

“Can we speak to her?” Steve inquires.

 

“Why?”

 

“Sean mentioned that he talks to her.”

 

James pauses and then sighs. “You can try.” He turns on his heel and walks into the kitchen; Steve and Danny follow close behind. “She doesn’t really talk anymore,” he says as he picks up and puts down dirty plates and pizza boxes. “The most she says these days is a word here or there. Nothing really coherent though,” there is genuine sadness in his voice.

 

“What, uh… what’re you looking for?” Danny asks, his curiosity finally getting the better of him.

 

“The phone number of the home health service. I had it on a sticky note…”

 

“You mean that one right there?” Steve asks, pointing at a yellow square of paper stuck to the refrigerator.

 

James turns and looks where Steve is pointing. “God! Yes! Thank you!” he exclaims, already pulling out his phone and starting to tap in the number. “My mom’s in her room at the top of the stairs on the right. You can go try to talk to her if you want.”

 

Steve glances at Danny who nods back at him and they start for the stairs.

 

xoxoxo

 

“Well, that was a dead end,” Danny comments as they’re driving away.

 

“Maybe not entirely. Did you happen to see the other phone number stuck to the refrigerator?” Steve asks him.

 

“No.”

 

“Bryce Cole,” Steve says, raising a speculative eyebrow at his partner.

 

Danny sticks out his bottom lip and nods. “So…? What? You’re thinking that maybe James was the one who called Bryce?”

 

“I dunno. Worth checking out though.”

 

xoxoxo

 

After dinner, Danny takes Charlie up to give him a bath and read to him before putting him to bed while Grace and Steve clean up the kitchen and conspire some more. When he tells her that he wants to take Danno to Italy for their honeymoon, she makes excited suggestions about where they should go and even some restaurants they should be sure to eat at. Steve hastily scrawls down some notes as she chatters away and he can’t help but smile at how suddenly mature and worldly Grace seems to be. She’s growing into a woman any parent would be proud of (including Steve, who has sort of started thinking about himself in those terms when it comes to these two kids).

 

When Danny comes downstairs from putting Charlie to bed, Grace gives him a happy hug and says her good-nights, retreating to her room to do homework. Steve sees Danny pick up his laptop and plunk himself down on the couch with a heavy sigh; when he walks into the living room, Danny looks up at him with a forlorn expression.

 

“What’re you working on?”

 

“The menu. Paradise Lost sent me a list of ‘acceptable caterers’,” Danny makes air quotes.

 

“Yeah? What makes a caterer ‘acceptable’?” Steve also makes air quotes.

 

“They only serve locally-sourced, sustainable, non-introduced foods,” he says, rolling his eyes in an exaggerated way. “This is completely ridiculous…” Danny grumbles at his computer.

 

“Okay, well, have fun with that, Danno,” Steve turns to walk away.

 

“Hey,” Danny looks up from his screen. “Where’re you going?”

 

“I’ve got some work to do, too, so I thought I’d set up at the dining room table.”

 

“Don’t you wanna keep me company?” his voice is plaintive.

 

Steve huffs. “Danno, last time I stayed to keep you company,” he shoots a quick glance toward the stairs and lowers his voice. “We ended up pretzeling on the couch and you lost out on two possible venues because they got booked while you were… procrastinating.”

 

Danny makes a face conceding defeat.

 

Steve walks to the couch and bends down, giving Danny a sweet, chaste kiss on the lips and then moves his mouth over to his ear and whispers, “I’ll tell you what… get your menu set and then we can go upstairs and see how quiet you can be while I suck your cock.” Steve licks a long stripe up Danny’s neck, ending with a brief (no marking!), soft suck on that tender spot behind his jaw.

 

Danny gasps and his hips jerk up reflexively, but Steve pushes back and away from him.

 

“I hate you so, so much right now,” Danny barely manages to choke out.

 

Steve laughs wickedly and darts out of the room.

 

xoxoxo

 

An hour later, Steve is so engrossed in concentrating on the spreadsheet page with the heading:

**Operation: Wedding**

**January 30, 2016**

…that he doesn’t even register that Danny has walked up behind him until he hears him grunt.

 

Steve jerks his head around. “Danny,” he swallows hard and tries not to be obvious that he’s trying to block Danny’s view of his computer. “What’s up?” he asks as casually as possible.

 

“I think I’ve gone blind,” his partner answers, sounding a little dazed.

 

“Whaddaya mean?” Steve asks and then watches in horror as Danny seems to squint at his computer screen.

 

“I just spent the last hour looking at ridiculous menus written in pretentious fonts that are virtually indecipherable. Do you know, Steven, that there are seven – _seven_ – different kinds of wild, native game that can be had on this island? And twenty-seven – _twenty-seven_ – different wild, edible, line-caught, non-threatened species of seafood available in our local waters?”

 

“Uh… no, I guess I didn’t know that…”

 

“And I have to choose between all of those options, but that’s pretty much impossible because I have no idea what these supposed foods even are! I might as well print off the menus and throw darts at them!”

 

“Uh…” Steve says, chancing a glance at his computer screen, and – yep – it’s still there, big as life and clearly visible. He uses every bit of his SEAL self-control not to visibly freak out about the fact that Danny is standing there and his eyes keep flicking back and forth between Steve and the screen that details out the entire surprise wedding. Somehow though, Danny doesn’t even seem to register it – it’s like he’s blind to words on the screen. Nonetheless, a cold sweat starts to trickle down Steve’s back.

 

“But I’ll tell you what is _not_ an option, Steve. Do you want to know what is _not_ an option?”

 

“Um, sure…” Maybe if Danny rants long enough Steve's screen will go into sleep mode…

 

“Potatoes! There are no potatoes on any of the menus, and do you know why?”

 

“Um… they don’t grow here…?” Steve hazards a guess.

 

“ _Wrong!_ They _do_ , in fact, grow potatoes in Hawai’i. I googled it! But we still cannot have them at our dinner because – care to try again?...”

 

Steve’s pretty sure he can see where this is going. “They’re introduced?” he tries.

 

“They’re _introduced!_ ” Danny confirms by way of shouting – and it goes without saying, his arms are flailing wildly. “We cannot have potatoes – one of the most nutritionally perfect foods in the world - because Paradise _Lost_ will not allow anything that is not native to this ridiculous island to sully their menu! _Potatoes,_ Steven!”

 

“Sorry, Danny,” Steve commiserates, not sure what else to say.

 

“Instead of relegating them to ‘The Island of Misfit Toys’, they should be considering why they grow potatoes here and almost everywhere else in the world. Do you know why?”

 

Steve shakes his head – it’s just the easiest thing to do when Danny’s on a tear like this, plus he doesn’t want to do anything that might draw Danny’s attention away from his thoughts and toward Steve’s screaming computer screen.

 

“Because they are perfect, that’s why! _Everyone_ loves potatoes! _I_ love potatoes; I would eat them every day if I could! My ma’s mashed potatoes… I swear to God, next to an authentic piece of pizza, my ma’s mashed potatoes are the best…”

 

Out of the corner of his eye, Steve sees his computer blink into sleep mode and he instantly relaxes exponentially, then stands up abruptly.  Danny startles at his sudden movement and stops his rant mid-sentence.

 

“So, uh, did you choose the menu, then?” Steve ask, grabbing his empty water glass and walking away from the table, drawing Danny with him.

 

“Yes, but don’t ask me what it is, because I really have no idea. Maybe you can tell me when you eat it.”

 

Steve stops in his tracks.   “Whaddaya mean, ‘when I eat it’?”

 

Danny blinks at him. “You know you have to come with me to this gala, right?”

 

_Shit!_   “Oh… um… Yeah, of course I’ll be there with you,” Steve lies. “I can’t wait.”

 

Danny looks at him a little askance and then shrugs, grabbing the glass from Steve and walking past him into the kitchen to deposit it in the dishwasher.

 

“Thanks?” Steve says, perplexed at Danny’s sudden domestic helpfulness.

 

“Oh, you don’t need to thank me. I’m just trying to move things along so we can go and do that thing where I have to try to be quiet. Hurry up and lock up… I’ll be upstairs.”

 

The second Danny is out of sight, Steve lets out the tension breath he’s been holding in since Danny surprised him a few minutes ago, and his knees nearly buckle in relief. He cannot believe that Danny somehow did not see the document he had opened on his computer when he had flicked his glance over there several times. Or he did see it and it didn’t register in his brain what he was looking at. Either way, it seems like Steve’s surprise is still intact – for now.

 

xoxoxo

 

Later, after Danny has stayed very, very quiet, they lie sweaty and limbs intertwined, Steve rubbing his hand lightly up and down Danny’s back.

 

“Pizza…” Danny mumbles, already half asleep.

 

“What?” Steve asks, smiling at the non-sequitur and tipping his head down so he can nose at Danny’s hair a little.

 

“I wish we could just have pizza at that stupid gala. Tony’s pizza… show ‘em all what the real thing tastes like.”

 

“Mmmm… might be a little low-brow for that crowd, don’t you think?”

 

“Then they have no taste…”

 

Steve sniggers lightly and Danny squeezes him tighter.

 

“And potatoes…” he slurs, almost incoherently, and then his whole body seems to melt against Steve; insomnia not plaguing him this night.

 

Steve is thinking about Danny’s last words when it comes to him; he pulls his head back and looks down at his partner, surprised he didn’t think of it sooner. As soon as Danny’s breathing settles into the thick rumbles of deep sleep, Steve eases out of bed and grabs his phone, heading to the bathroom. He closes the door and flicks on the light and waits for his eyes to adjust. As soon as he can read the screen, Steve opens the ‘notes’ section and types in two words. Then, after a moment of consideration, he shrugs to himself and adds three more.

 

xoxoxo

 

~~Plan dinner menu:~~ Tony’s pizza. And Clara’s potatoes

 

 


	14. Staring

 

_ Thursday, January 14th _

 

On Thursday morning, they run background on James Kamihana and come up with nothing. The guy has one speeding ticket (only 4 miles over the limit) from 8 years ago, and a few parking tickets over the last several years – that’s it. With no criminal record, they find no known associates. They also check his cell phone records and the LAN line at the house but there are no calls to Bryce Cole. But something about the guy still doesn’t sit right with either Steve or Danny, so they go back to the hospital to talk to Sean.

 

xoxoxo

 

“I know you said you never talk to James about your jobs, but you said you _do_ talk to your aunt. Is there any way he might have overheard you telling her about the Moran painting?”

 

“I don’t think so. I guess I’m missing a couple of days, but James is really never around when I am.”

 

“But you’re home at the same time sometimes, right?” Danny asks him. “I mean, you come home and you, what? You go check on her right away?”

 

“Yeah, that’s the first thing I do. Most of the time, James has got her up and settled with some tea in the living room but he’s already gone to work.”

 

“So he leaves her alone?”

 

“Well, yes…” Sean answers uneasily. “I mean, we don’t particularly want to, but neither of our schedules are particularly flexible. It’s too expensive to have someone come in for just an hour or so. But… she’s been fine – she doesn’t wander or anything.”

 

Steve and Danny exchange glances.

 

“Look, neither James nor I want to have to put her in a facility, okay? It’s why he stayed at home and I moved into their house and take night shifts. We’re doing the best we can…”

 

“Okay, Sean. I get it. It’s a good thing that you’re doing," Steve reassures him.  "So, you’re saying that you and James never cross paths?”

 

“Well, I wouldn’t say never…”

 

“Okay, so James is there sometimes when you get home…” Danny says casually. “Is it possible that he might overhear you talking to your aunt about your jobs? If say, you’re in the living room and he’s in the kitchen?”

 

“I suppose it’s possible…” he says reluctantly. “But James wouldn’t do something like this. You’ll never get me to believe that James would hurt me on purpose. He’s my _family_ , and he’s not that kind of guy.”

 

“What about his buddies? Maybe he overheard you and he mentioned something to a friend…? Are any of the guys he hangs out with that kind of guy?”

 

“Look, I told you, we hardly see each other – I’ve never even met his friends, except for Harley Mitchell.”

 

“Harley Mitchell?”

 

“Yeah, they grew up together. Been friends since grade school, so he’s been hanging around for years.”

 

“You don’t sound like you like him much.”

 

“No, he’s… I don’t know. I guess you’re right - I don’t like him much. He’s just kind of lazy, you know? Always looking for the easy route. I’ve never understood what James sees in the guy.”

 

“Does he ever come by your house? Go in your kitchen?”

 

Sean shrugs. “I guess. Probably,” he looks at them with resignation. “You think he had something to do with this?”

 

“We don’t know. But we haven’t really been able to come up with any solid leads, so we’re looking at all possibilities. Do you know what Harley does?”

 

“No. It seems like every time I hear about it, he’s doing something else.”

 

“Okay. Thanks for your help. Listen, you take it easy, Sean,” Steve claps him lightly on the shoulder as they turn to leave.

 

“Yeah, thanks,” he mumbles distractedly. “Hey…” Sean calls out after them and they stop in the doorway and turn around. “Let me know what you find out, would you, please?”

 

“Sure thing.”

 

xoxoxo

 

“Harley Mitchell,” Lou starts as soon as Steve and Danny walk into the bullpen 45 minutes later; he’s been pulling everything he can find on Mitchell since Steve called him from the car on the way back from the hospital. “Currently unemployed, lives in Kalihi, he’s had a string of jobs over the last 5 years, none of them lasting more than 7 months. Mostly menial stuff, unskilled construction jobs, warehouse work, even a stint as a school bus driver. No criminal record though.”

 

“Okay, well there’s nothing very helpful there,” Danny points out.

 

“We got any particular reason to suspect this guy?” Lou asks. “Besides the fact that he happens to be friends with the security guard’s cousin?”

 

“No,” Steve sighs and runs his hand down his face in frustration. “Okay, let’s start going through it all again. Check and recheck records, alibis, and known associates of everyone with the remotest possibility of knowing about that painting.”

 

Each of the team takes a couple of files and goes back to their office to keep digging.

 

xoxoxo

 

After dinner, Danny gets down on the floor in Charlie’s room to help him construct the latest Star Wars Lego set that he got from Santa and Steve helps Grace with her algebra homework. After Danny gives Charlie his bath, he ends up in Grace’s room, painting her toenails while Steve goes in to read Charlie a bedtime story.

 

But Steve is a little bit of a pushover when it comes to the kids, so by the time he finishes reading ‘just one more’, Danny is back downstairs, dug in to the big chair, staring at his computer.

 

“What’re you doing?” Steve asks, walking past him on his way to the kitchen to get a beer. He stops and looks over his shoulder when Danny doesn’t answer.

 

“Danny?” Steve tries again, but still gets no response. His partner is completely engrossed in whatever he’s staring at on the screen.

 

Steve walks around to stand in front of the chair. “Hey, Danny!” Steve says, a little louder this time.

 

Danny finally snaps out of his daze and looks up, glassy-eyed, at Steve. “Wha…?” he mumbles, looking surprised to see Steve standing right in front of him.

 

“What’re you doing?” Steve asks again.

 

Danny reaches up and rubs hard at his eyes, then flops his arms dramatically onto the chair. “What am I doing? I’ll tell you what I am doing. For the last…” he pulls out his phone and looks at the time, “…forty-five minutes, I have been looking at place-setting options, Steven. Place settings! This is what my life has come to. I am looking at place settings!”

 

“Yeah, well, that’s… I guess that’s… pretty important, Danny,” Steve tries to smother a smile.

 

“Do not patronize me! I have just spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to decide between the 27 different napkin folds that the caterer offers. Do I want ‘the candle’? or ‘the fan’? or perhaps ‘the candle-fan?”

 

“So what did you decide?” Steve asks, squinting at the images on Danny’s screen, finding that he’s actually curious to know.

 

“Seriously? … WHO CARES?!” Danny kind of yells and then instinctively turns and looks toward the stairs where the kids are asleep. Then more quietly, he adds, “And after I get done choosing what fold I want on the napkins, I have to choose: what _color_ napkins; white or ivory plates; how many forks we want to place; which wine glasses… _Jesus!_ This is killing me, I swear to God!”

 

“Hang in there, Danny. You’ll be fine,” Steve pats Danny on the arm twice and then turns to resume his path to the kitchen.

 

“If it were up to me we’d eat off paper plates and use paper napkins, folded in half – _once_ ,” he hears Danny mutter.

 

“It is up to you,” Steve points out, smiling back over his shoulder.

 

“You know what I mean!” Danny yells softly after him.

 

Steve grabs a beer from the refrigerator and walks into the dark yard with the intention of sitting down to puzzle through their case some more. But just as he gets to the chairs by the sand, his phone rings. Seeing who it is, he grabs one of the chairs and turns it 90 degrees so he can sit and see the ocean, but keep one eye on the house as well.

 

“Hey, Tony,” Steve says as he sits down into the chair. “Thanks for calling me back.”

 

“No problem. What can I do for you?”

 

“So, here’s the thing. I’m planning a wedding for Danny and me…”

 

“Hey! Congratulations!”

 

“Yeah, thanks,” Steve can’t stop himself from smiling as he glances toward the house. “So, listen, it’s kind of short notice, I know, but the wedding is going to be January 30th and I’m wondering if you could do pizza for about 30 people or so that night?”

 

“Yeah, sure. I can do that! You wanna pick up or you want me to bring my food truck out and make them on site somewhere?”

 

“I didn’t know you have one of those.”

 

“Yeah, I got it about two months ago. She’s a beauty, too! I can cook four pies in her at once.”

 

“Oh, God, Tony, that would be perfect! Can you bring it to our house? On Pi’ikoi Street?”

 

“No problem! Anything for my favorite Jersey homeboy! … And you of course.”

 

“Hey, about that, Tony…”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“The wedding and after are going to be sort of a surprise for Danny, so I need you to not mention anything about this to him.”

 

“A surprise?”

 

“Yeah, yeah… a surprise.”

 

Tony laughs raucously. “Are you crazy?”

 

“No, I’m not crazy, Tony,” Steve assures him. Why does everyone think he’s crazy?

 

“Whatever you say, man… so you wanna tell me what you want now, or you wanna order as we go that night?”

 

“Yeah, I think we’ll order as we go.”

 

“Sounds good. I’ll just bring everything and we’ll whip up whatever you want.”

 

“Perfect, Tony. That’ll be perfect.”

 

“So, what time you want the truck there?”

 

“Well, the ceremony will be at 5:00, so maybe get here and get set up by about 6:00?”

 

“Alright, I’m putting it in my calendar now. Hey, listen, Steve, we’re getting a little rush in here, I gotta go.”

 

“Okay, thanks, Tony…” Steve’s conversation with Danny a few minutes ago suddenly comes back to him. “Oh, hey, wait!”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“What do you usually serve the pizza on when you’re making it in the truck?”

 

“Just paper plates and napkins. You want something nicer? It’s a wedding, huh? I should probably get something nicer.”

 

“No, you know what? Paper plates and napkins are perfect.”

 

"I’ll tell you what, I got great suppliers – I’ll have ‘em get me something a little nicer,” Tony offers.

 

“Sure, okay, Tony. If it’s not too much trouble.”

 

“No trouble at all for my favorite customers. Hey, Steve, sorry, I gotta go…”

 

“Right. Thanks, Tony.”

 

Steve disconnects the call and picks up his beer, taking a long, satisfied drink. From here, he can just make out Danny’s profile through the dining room window into the living room. His partner is still hunched over, staring at the laptop, a look of deep concentration on his face. Steve huffs and takes another short pull off the bottle.

 

He has to admit, having Danny distracted by his own event planning is making things easy for Steve. He’s distracted, so he isn’t paying much attention to what Steve is doing these days, and Steve’s certainly not above using Danny’s distractions to his own end. But Danny’s also, unknowingly, helping Steve plan their perfect wedding by being very vocal about what he likes and doesn’t like about his plans for the school gala. Steve smirks at his own cleverness and lifts his phone back up and opens the ‘notes’.

 

When he finishes he goes back into the house where Danny is still at it.

 

“So did you pick a napkin fold?” Steve asks him with a smirk.

 

“Yeah, I think I found one I like,” Danny answers with a grim expression and turns his computer around so Steve can see the screen.

 

Steve’s eyes go wide when he sees the image and he looks up to see Danny now with a huge shit-eating grin on his face.

 

“You’re _not_ …?!” Steve says, flicking his eyes back and forth between the screen and Danny.

 

“Hell, yes, I am!” says Danny, laughing.

 

“Oh, man!” Steve is laughing now, too. “You are a bad man, Danny Williams.”

 

“Come on… let’s go upstairs,” Danny gets up, carelessly depositing his laptop on the couch. “This napkin is giving me ideas.”

 

Steve follows him, because on the screen is an image of a napkin folded in the shape of a pretzel, and it’s giving him ideas, too…

 

xoxoxo

 

~~Confirm with Tony~~

~~Paper plates and napkins!~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Horndog333 who did some searching and found this picture of a pretzel-folded napkin (LOL!!) :
> 
> https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/72/b1/9d/72b19d2a33657a82604c0a0212790d13.jpg


	15. Eating

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! Half-way there! While so far I've been able to maintain daily postings - fair warning - I'm going out of town next weekend for 5 days and it's doubtful I'll have time to write. I am a little bit ahead of the game in my chapter writing, but I don't know if I can sustain it. I'll do my best...
> 
> Also, at the half-way mark, I need to take a minute and thank my beta, KippyVee - who is AWESOME, by the way! She's working nearly as hard on this as I am and she's given me great ideas and feedback throughout (pretzel napkins - totally her idea!), so, YAY, KippyVee! Thank you so much - I couldn't ask for a better beta!

 

_ Friday, January 15th _

 

The team is still re-running all of the potential suspects on Friday morning when Sean calls Steve from the hospital.  As soon as he hangs up from the call, he pokes his head into Danny’s office.

 

“Hey…”

 

“You got something?” Danny looks up from his computer.

 

“Maybe. Sean just called me – he thinks he remembers that maybe Harley’s girlfriend works in a dental office.”

 

“Where they use nitrous oxide,” Danny puts two and two together.

 

“Exactly,” Steve grins, and Danny is up and following him into the bullpen.

  

xoxoxo

 

The girlfriend – Alison Johnson – works as a receptionist for West End Dental, a fairly large clinic with twenty-five staff members. As they drive to the clinic, they are both quiet and tense; maybe they’re finally going to get a break on this case that has been going nowhere.

 

The office manager tells them that Alison is a model employee; hard-working and well-liked by everyone. And then when she takes them to the supply closet where they store their tanks of NO2, she tells them that they’re all accounted for. They ask her to please double check the paperwork to be sure, and when she returns with the documents, she shows them the delivery slip, which matches up with the four tanks sitting in the closet; these four tanks were delivered on December 20th (the standard delivery day) and all of the tanks that were delivered that day are accounted for.

 

“Damn it!” Steve bangs his hand on the steering wheel when they get back in the car. “You know what, Danny. I’m starting to think we’re never gonna find that painting. But how can something that size just disappear?”

 

“I don’t know. But I think we should start watching a few of these guys: Bryce, James and Harley.”

 

“Yeah,” he agrees as he starts the car. “I’ll call Duke and ask him to put some people on it.”

 

xoxoxo

 

Steve and Danny grab some sandwiches on their way back to the Palace and when they get to the office, Kono calls them over to the conference table where she and Chin and Lou are gathered.

 

“Uh… what’s this?” Danny asks.

 

The table has ten containers on it, each holding a piece of cake.

 

“We’re having a party for my Auntie Miyok’s birthday…”

 

“Have we met that one?” Danny interrupts.

 

“Yeah, she was at the wedding,” she answers but Danny looks confused (there really are too many 'aunties' to keep track of). “Anyway, I’m in charge of getting the cake, so the bakery gave me a bunch of samples to try. Wanna help me pick one?”

 

“No thanks. I’ve got some gala things to take care of while I eat my lunch. Enjoy yourselves though,” Danny says flapping a hand at them and starting toward his office.

 

Steve opens his eyes wide at Kono and she returns the look, both of them alarmed. Chin and Lou look like they’re trying not to laugh.

 

“Hey, hey, Danno… wait,” Steve calls to him and Danny stops and turns around. “Come on, buddy, you can’t just leave Kono hanging.”

 

“Seriously? You don’t think the four of you are capable of making that decision without me?” Danny questions.

 

“Danny, I really would like everyone’s opinion,” Kono tells him.

 

Danny rolls his eye and pauses for a second, but then heads back to the table.

 

“Thanks, Danny,” Kono says, a huge smile lighting her face.

 

“Yeah, yeah, okay… what the hell is this?” he asks, picking up a piece with violet-colored icing and eying it warily.

 

“That’s lemon-lavender,” she answers and Steve gives her an odd look. “They wanted me to taste _all_ of their different cake options.” She’s speaking more to Steve than Danny.

 

“Well, I can tell you without even tasting it that you shouldn’t get that one,” he drops the container back onto the table. “Lavender is not an actual food you know. It’s a flower.”

 

“Yeah, I guess I can cross that one off my list,” Kono nods.

 

“What’s this one?” Steve picks up a less frightening looking piece of cake.

 

“Um… that’s a Black Forest cake.”

 

Steve takes a bite and then hands the container to Danny, who does the same. Everyone watches his reaction very closely. Danny nods his head as he chews.

 

“You like that one, Danny?” Lou asks, and Steve shoots him a look for his lack of subtlety.

 

“Yeah, it’s okay,” Danny shrugs. “I don’t really like fruit in my cake.”

 

“So, I guess that means the vanilla-raspberry is out then, huh?” Chin helpfully points out, and Steve glares at him, too.

 

“Oh… I like raspberry,” Danny says and reaches out to grab the one that looks like it’s probably the cake in question. He takes a bite and passes it around and everyone follows suit.

 

“That’s good,” Steve pronounces, watching his partner.

 

“Yeah, it’s okay,” Danny repeats, picking up another. “What’s this one?”

 

“I think that’s pineapple upside-down cake.”

 

Danny quickly sets it back down and picks up another, quirking an eyebrow in question.

 

“Um…” Kono looks at a list from the bakery. “Spice cake.”

 

They repeat the tasting and questions for several more rounds until all of the cakes have been tested and all that remains are ten containers of crumbs.

 

“So? What’s everybody think?” Kono queries them.

 

“Well… I kinda liked the double chocolate with vanilla icing,” Steve says hesitantly, testing the waters.

 

“Yeah, that was okay,” Danny says… again.

 

“I think that’s what you said about all of them, Danny,” Chin reminds him.

 

Danny shrugs. “What can I say? I’m not a huge fan of cake.”

 

“Are you kidding?” Steve asks incredulously.  “But I’ve seen you demolish a whole bag of malasadas by yourself!” he sputters.

 

Danny turns more fully toward his partner. “Correct. But malasadas are a completely different food.”

 

“What are you talking about, Danny. They’re like little balls of cake!”

 

“No, that is not true. Cake is light and… fluffy,” he says with distaste, gesturing at the remains on the table. “Malasadas are rich and dense and… perfect.”

 

There is a beat of silence as everyone take that in.

 

“You don’t like cake?” Steve finally asks, sounding stunned.

 

“Not particularly.”

 

“So… which of these would you pick?” Kono asks hesitantly.

 

“I don’t know. I’m sure your auntie would like any of them. Except maybe the lemon-lavender. I’m pretty sure no one would like that.” With that, he’s walking toward his office again, leaving four bemused coworkers in his wake. He’s almost to his office when he turns around looking thoughtful. “You know what would be great?”

 

“What?” the other four reply in unison.

 

“A cake made of malasadas. Or like… a pyramid of malasadas! Somebody should make that. That would be awesome!” Danny grins and walks into his office.

 

“You heard the man,” Chin pipes up in that way he has of playing it straight-faced but you know underneath he’s laughing. “He wants a pyramid of malasadas.”

 

Steve sighs, ducking his head and rubbing his temples with his fingers.

 

Kono starts to pick up the empty contains. “So… what’re you gonna do, Boss?”

 

Steve looks up at her and then glances at Lou and Chin. “What  _can_ I do? If Danny wants a pyramid of malasadas, I guess I’m calling Liliha’s.”

 

“So, just to recap,” Lou starts, sounding falsely serious. “You’re throwing a surprise wedding, on a day that Danny has to be somewhere else, his entire family is coming to town and you expect them to not spill the beans, the menu will be pizza and mashed potatoes on paper plates, and the wedding cake will be a tower of malasadas? Does that about cover it?”

 

Steve shoots him an unimpressed look, then goes into his office to call Liliha’s.

 

A half an hour later, he’s got his order placed for a “pyramid” of malasadas - but not from Liliha’s, which turns out to be closed for the month of January for major expansion and remodeling. It only takes a couple more quick calls to find someone else who can do it, though.

 

"So you want a croquembouche made of malasadas?" the woman who takes his call at The World Bakery asks, when Steve requests that the 200 malasadas be stacked into a pyramid shape.

 

"I don't know what that means," Steve answers, bewildered.

 

"Nevermind.  It's not a problem.  We can do that," she assures him.

 

Apparently, as a bakery that specializes in treats from around the globe, they routinely accommodate unusual requests.

 

That done, Steve pulls out his phone and opens up the ‘notes’.

 

xoxoxo

 

“Seriously, Steven? He’s four years old. You couldn’t have let him win the game?”

 

“Whaddaya want me to do, Danny?" Steve shrugs his shoulders and turns his hands upward.  "The die’s not loaded. I roll it, it tells me where to move. You can’t throw a game if it’s all based on chance and there’s no strategy involved!”

 

“It’s _Candyland!_ I think you could have figured out a way to throw the game if you put your sneaky SuperSEAL mind to it!” Danny whispers vigorously at Steve in the kitchen while Grace and Charlie put the game away.

 

Steve freezes. “I’m not sneaky…” he says after a beat.

 

Danny just snorts.

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Steve swallows and tries to play it cool but he’s suddenly sweating a little. He picks up a dirty plate from dinner and starts to scrape it into the garbage.

 

“Look, all I’m saying is that next time we play a children’s game, maybe you could let _the children_ win,” he jabs, picking up a pan from the stove to bring it to the sink.

 

“You know, it promotes a false sense of importance and entitlement in kids if you let them win all the time, Danny. They need to understand that sometimes, in life, you lose.”

 

Danny stops and squints at Steve with his mouth open. “Oh, is that so, Dr. Spock. You’re an expert on child rearing now?”

 

Steve shrugs. “Kids need to learn how to deal with disappointment.”

 

Danny’s face seems to shut down and the mood in the room shifts to icy. “Oh, so having a life-threatening illness isn’t enough disappointment for one kid’s life?” Danny says, dropping the pan onto the counter a little too hard so it bounces and then clatters onto the floor.

 

“Danno?” Grace’s voice comes from the living room, and both Danny and Steve flinch and turn toward the door.

 

“It’s okay, Monkey. Just dropped a pan,” Danny yells back to her, but she’s there in the doorway an instant later, Charlie close on her heels. “Hey, could you take Charlie upstairs and get him going for his bath?”

 

“Sure, Danno,” Grace smiles. “Come on, Charlie,” she takes his hand and pulls him toward the stairs.

 

“I’ll be up in a minute!” he calls after them and then ducks his head down, squeezing his eyes shut.

 

Instantly, Steve is behind his partner, wrapping his arms around him and hooking his chin over Danny’s shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he murmurs. “You’re a great dad and I wasn't trying to imply that you don’t know what’s best for your kids.”

 

Danny sighs and shakes his head. “No, I’m sorry. I’m… I’m on edge… this stupid gala, my family coming, this _case_ that we can’t seem to catch a break on… I just…” Danny pauses and shakes his head again. “I was really hoping the numbers would be better this time,” it comes out a hoarse whisper.

 

“I know. I was too,” Steve tells him quietly and squeezes a little tighter.

 

Danny seems to relax a little and tips his head back to rest it on Steve’s shoulder, and they just stand together quietly for a few moments.

 

“Thanks,” Danny says eventually.

 

“I love you,” is Steve’s reply.

 

“Yeah,” Danny smiles. “Thanks for that, too.”

 

xoxoxo

 

~~Choose cake- NO~~

~~Order malasadas~~

 

 


	16. Listening to music

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to Orpheuscrew for the tip about the croquembouche in the last chapter. I'd never heard of it before, but she commented that Danny's tower of malasadas sounded like a croquembouche - so I googled it, and it is pretty much exactly what Danny (or, actually, I) was envisioning! I edited the chapter a little bit to add that after I read the comment. So, thanks Orpheuscrew!

 

_ Saturday, January 16th _

 

Steve gets back from a quick run into the office to find Danny, Grace and Charlie out in the back yard. Grace is pushing Charlie around on a surf board in the calm, shallow water and the little boy is grinning from ear to ear. Danny is sitting in one of the chairs, smiling as he watches them; he’s got his laptop with him and it looks like earbuds in his ears. Steve eases outside and leans against the house and just watches for a while. He doesn’t want to interrupt the sweet tableau, but he’s also enjoying just watching; it feels warm and homey and so much like _family_ – something Steve never really thought he’d have - that he feels his eyes prickle just a tiny bit before he blinks to clear them.

 

After a few minutes, Grace catches sight of Steve hovering at the side of the yard and smiles and waves at him. That stirs Steve from his reverie and he finally pushes off the wall and walks down the yard toward the water, taking the empty chair next to Danny.

 

Once Steve settles in, Danny pulls the earbuds out of his ears and turns toward him.

 

“I think my ears are bleeding,” Danny says miserably. “Are my ears bleeding?” He turns his head, presumably so Steve can see his ears.

 

“No blood that I can see,” Steve huffs.

 

“It feels like they’re bleeding,” Danny grumbles.

 

“What’re you listening to, and why are you listening to it if it’s making your ears bleed?” Steve humors him.

 

“I am listening to various musical acts to try to find entertainment for the gala. Would you like to hear a little ‘cool jazz’? Or maybe some light rock? Oh, wait! You probably _would!_ ”

 

Steve tries to give Danny a small glare, but can’t help keep himself from smiling. “So, uh, do you get to pick whatever kind of band you want? Why don’t you find a 1980s metal cover-band?” he retorts, always enjoying harassing Danny about his own music preferences.

 

“I wish! No, I believe the direction Kelly Rushmore gave me in her email was, ‘something soft, that will provide pleasant background ambiance without distracting the attendees from their primary purpose’.”

 

“And what, exactly, is their primary purpose?” Steve inquires.

 

“As near as I can tell, it’s to get drunk and bid way too much money on art that their children created in class.”

 

Steve laughs. “Do they really do that?”

 

“Do they…? Are you kidding? Have you ever noticed the ‘still-life’ painting in Rachel’s kitchen?”

 

“The one with the banana and the… pear?” Steve hazards a guess.

 

“Apple,” Danny corrects. “Yeah, that’s the one.”

 

“What about it?”

 

“Grace’s third-grade class painted that for the auction four years ago. It was like, a group project, and then they auctioned it off… got the parents bidding against each other.”

 

Steve bobs his head back and forth. “That’s kinda smart, I guess.”

 

“Rachel and Stan paid $7,500 for it,” Danny deadpans.

 

Steve gapes at him.  “Seventy-five… _Jesus!_ ” he blurts.

 

Danny just nods.

 

Steve looks out at the kids playing joyfully in the water and then back at Danny, still stunned.

 

“That’s what the alcohol is for," Danny continues.  "It’s like a lubricant… loosens up the wallets. I think they also lace it with some sort of hallucinogen that has the effect of making them believe their children’s art is worth a fortune.”

 

“I mean… you know I love Gracie’s drawings, but $7,500?”

 

Danny nods again. “This event typically raises over $100,000 for the school.”

 

“Are you… are you serious?” Steve sounds incredulous.

 

“Yep.”

 

Steve just stares at Danny, his mouth going dry in a state of shock. It occurs to him that he’s been awfully cavalier about Danny’s responsibility to this gala. He starts to panic a bit at the idea that his plans may cause more complications for Danny’s plans than he had originally considered. The stakes are suddenly appearing much higher to Steve: Not only does he need to plan and execute a successful op, but he realizes that he needs to make sure that Danny does, too.

 

“So, um,” Steve licks his lips and tries to clear his throat, but his voice still comes out raspy. “Did you… did you find a decent band?”

 

Danny seems shockingly relaxed about the whole thing. “Depends on your definition of decent,” he huffs as he pokes at his touch-screen. “God, this reminds me of when Rachel and I auditioned bands for our wedding,” he adds a moment later.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Yeah, you know, Rachel was just set on having this huge wedding from the very start, with a big band and fancy food…”

 

“Not really your kind of thing, huh?”

 

“No. But, if I’m honest, I didn’t really mind too much at the time. I mean, I mostly just wanted her to be happy, so if that was what she wanted, then I was fine with it. I just didn’t particularly want to have to think about which wine glass would go best with what plate setting.”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Yeah. And I really, really hated auditioning the bands,” Danny laughs. “This was before YouTube or every band having their own CD, so Rachel would contact a band and some of them would give her a tape, but some of them, we’d have to go and sneak into someone else’s wedding reception or girl’s bat mitzvah to hear them! It was ridiculous! We’d try to be sneaky and just pretend we were casually walking by – really slow – if it was in a big hotel or something, but a few places were small venues and we’d try to pretend we were guests,” Danny’s laughing harder now. “Rachel would make us get all dressed up – you know in a suit and she’d wear some fancy dress – and we’d stand in the back and try to look like we belonged there!”

 

Danny’s giggling is infectious and Steve has joined in.

 

“I’ll tell ya, we actually got some pretty decent meals and some damn fine wine a few times!”

 

“Seriously? You ate their food?”

 

“Yeah. We were poor as church mice, so we’d just sort of slip in at the end of the buffet line and if anyone asked, we’d tell them we were distant cousins or childhood friends or something. Usually worked.”

 

“Usually?”

 

Danny shrugs. “There may have been a couple times there that we got chased out,” he says with a completely straight face.

 

Steve laughs out loud and Danny’s face breaks into a huge grin, too.

 

“So is that how you eventually found your band?” Steve asks him, his voice still full of humor.

 

“As a matter of fact it is… but I think that maybe we were overly-influenced by the excellent prime rib and red wine we got at that particular event. In retrospect, the band wasn’t all that great.”

 

“It sounds like maybe the whole wedding planning thing with Rachel wasn’t all bad…”

 

“Nah, I guess it wasn’t,” Danny admits and then pauses and seems to be thinking for a few moments. “You know, I’m sorry I shut you down about planning our own wedding a while back. I didn’t mean it. When it’s time, of course I’ll help plan it; I _want_ to help.”

 

“Um…” Steve isn’t quite sure what to say to that, since he’s well into getting their wedding planned already – without any input from Danny. “Really?”

 

“Sure, I mean, you shouldn’t have to do it all yourself.”

 

Steve decides he really needs to change the subject because he’s starting to panic a little. “So, what kind of music did you end up having?”

 

“Oh, you know, it was just a covers band. Rachel wanted a lot of dancing.”

 

“What about you? Didn’t you want dancing?” Steve tries to ask subtly.

 

“I thought we had already established that ‘Danno don’t dance’.”

 

“Really? Even at your wedding?”

 

“Ugh. I did the obligatory first dance and then I danced with my ma and sisters. And a couple more times with Rachel – the absolute least amount I could get away with.”

 

“So when the time comes, you don’t want to have some kind of band and dancing – like at Kono’s wedding?” Steve presses.

 

“Nah. Not interested. Unless… you want that,” Danny offers.

 

“I don’t know. I hadn’t put much thought into it,” Steve answers.  Which is true.

 

“So can we not? If you don’t mind. I mean, not that I’m rushing into the whole wedding thing…”

 

Steve is trying to decide how to respond to that when he’s saved by the kids; Charlie climbs off the surfboard at the shore and runs up to Danny, who instinctively grabs a towel and wraps him in it.

 

“Danno, I’m hungry,” Charlie tells him.

 

“You are? Well, than, Cowboy, how about we go rustle you up some grub?” Danny asks him, using the nickname that seems to have stuck since Halloween.

 

Charlie nods. “Can we have grilled cheese?” he asks with a grin on his face.

 

“Grilled cheese you say?” Charlie nods again. “How about you, Monkey? Does grilled cheese sound good to you?”

 

“Yeah. Can I make it Danno?”

 

“Sure. You go in and get it started and I’ll be there in a minute.”

 

“Come on, Charlie,” Grace grabs his hand and leads him to the house.

 

They both watch the kids retreat to the house and when Steve looks at Danny, he sees him smiling with pride; Danny turns back a moment later. “So, did you find out anything new?”

 

Steve’s heart skips a beat and he starts to panic. Had Danny figured out what he was doing? He thought his cover in this op was secure, but -

 

“Anything going on with our trio of suspects?” Danny continues when Steve hesitates.

 

Steve blinks and forcibly calms himself when he realizes his cover is still secure.  “Nothing much. Sean’s back home from the hospital – the unit reported seeing James pick him up and bring him home around 6:00 last night.”

 

“That’s good. He’s lucky, I guess, that there’s no permanent damage.”

 

Steve nods. “Harley was at the Kamihana’s house later last night for a while with James, but they didn’t go anywhere or do anything suspicious. The patrol could see them through the living room window and it looked like they just watched television for a couple of hours. And Bryce apparently spends most of his free time sitting alone in his apartment, gaming.”

 

“Not very incriminating,” Danny observes.

 

“Nope. I’ll tell you, Danny. I don’t know when I’ve been more frustrated with a case. Even watching these three guys… I’m not sure there’s much point. I mean, how could _any_ of them have moved that painting? It’s huge – and with the crating material, it would be way too heavy for two guys to maneuver it. And, yeah, Bryce is a big guy, but neither James nor Harley looks like they could even bench 200. The Evanses are both huge guys but even they said they needed a small forklift to move it on and off of their truck.”

 

Danny nods in agreement.  “I was thinking about that, too. I think almost anyone could come up with a truck of some kind to move the painting – I mean, you wouldn’t need a very big truck to move that thing; you could even move it in a big pick-up if you strapped it down well enough. But I was thinking we need to expand our search into their families and friends and see if any of them might have access to a forklift. And check with rental places - for both trucks and forklifts.”

 

“Good idea,” Steve concurs.

 

“Okay. I’m gonna go in and rustle up that grub,” Danny says, extricating himself from the chair.

 

“You’re a good dad, Danny,” Steve tells him.

 

Danny looks down at him for a few seconds, a thoughtful expression on his face. “You are, too - you know?” He smiles and turns to head toward the house before Steve can respond.

   

Steve stays where he is, needing a few minutes to process his conversation with Danny. He’s not sure what to do about Danny’s assertion that he _does_ want to help plan the wedding. Does that mean that he’ll be mad if Steve surprises him by doing it all himself? Or was he just trying to be conciliatory – his way of apologizing for his anti-wedding rant from a couple of weeks ago?   Should Steve tell Danny about the plans he’s already made? About the wedding?   It’s not unreasonable that a person would want to have input into what their own wedding would be like…

 

On the other hand, Danny _has_ had input. It’s been Danny’s expressed opinions about everything from food to centerpieces that has guided Steve so far – and will continue to guide his choices if he can get Danny to keep giving his opinions.  Honestly, this gala is the best thing that could have happened as far as Steve’s concerned; it gives Danny ample opportunity to tell Steve exactly what he likes and doesn’t like about everything having to do with throwing a big party.  And, of course, it's keeping him distracted, and Steve not above using that to his own ends.

 

Everything’s fine, Steve decides. His op is still ‘a go’ and on track. Danny’s going to be thrilled when the 30th rolls around (he hopes).

 

xoxoxo

 

 ~~Music – band?~~ NO

Put together Danny’s favorites playlist for sound system – NO DANCING

 

 

 

 

 

  


	17. Watching sports

 

_ Sunday, January 17th _

 

Sunday morning, as has become tradition, Danny sleeps in while Steve foregoes his swim and makes pancakes for Grace and Charlie. He has to admit, he sort of loves these early mornings when it’s just him and the kids; it gives him a chance to feel like he’s catching up in the parenting department.

 

He’s pretty sure he’s loved Gracie since the first year he met her; a sweet contrast to acerbic father. It was easy to admit he loved Grace for all those years before he finally realized and admitted that he also loves her father. Steve thinks back to a year ago, and how that month while Grace was gone became such a pivotal time in their relationship. He missed her almost as much as Danny did (okay, well, maybe not, but he sure was surprised at how much he found he missed her), but he can’t help wondering if they would have gotten to where they are now if they hadn’t had that month together. He thinks about Colombia and what a mess that situation was and how Danny was a wreck after he returned. And then on the heels of that, the turmoil with Rachel’s confession about Charlie – and Charlie’s illness… He’s pretty sure he and Danny might not be where they are in this relationship now if they hadn’t had that month for them to sort out their feelings (okay, for _Steve_ to sort out his feelings, with a lot of help from Danny).

 

But Charlie will now always hold a special place in Steve's heart, because where Danny had an eight-year head start before Steve even  _met_ Grace, he and Danny have more-or-less been getting to know Charlie at the same time.  And Charlie probably has a lot to do with them being where they are today, too. Crisis has a way of either tearing people apart or drawing them closer together. The news that Charlie is Danny’s son had hit his partner like a ton of bricks – the joy and despair of it hard to separate for a while. Danny had been on an emotional rollercoaster for months after Rachel’s confession. But it was that turmoil, and Danny’s desperate need to get something solid underneath his feet, that led him to agree to move into Steve’s house with him.

 

It’s funny how life’s trials and tribulations can also bring you some of its sweetest rewards, as well.

 

“Uncle Steve,” Charlie interrupts his thoughts. “Can I have chocolate syrup for my pancakes?”

 

“Chocolate syrup?” Steve smiles and nods. “What do you think Danno would say about chocolate syrup?”

 

“He’d say, ‘Yum’!” Charlie replies instantly.

 

“You know what? I think you’re right.” Steve goes to the refrigerator. “Chocolate syrup, coming up!”

 

Charlie pours a generous amount of the sweet mess onto his pancakes and Grace does the same, grinning at Steve.

 

“Hey, Uncle Steve, I think mom and I are going to go shopping this afternoon to look for a new dress. What color do you think I should get?” Grace asks obliquely.

 

Steve leans back against the kitchen counter and crosses his arms. “Um, I don’t know Gracie. I think Danno’s favorite color is blue… what do you think about that?”

 

“Danno’s favorite color is blue!” Charlie chimes in. “He has lots of blue shirts.”

 

Grace laughs. “That’s true, he does have lots of blue shirts. Yeah, blue is pretty, I’ll look for blue. And maybe we can find Charlie a matching tie.”

 

“I don’t wanna wear a tie!” Charlie yells.

 

Grace looks apologetic. “Sorry,” she whispers, realizing she may have revealed too much in front of her little brother.

 

Steve gives her a reassuring look. “Hey, Charlie, you think you want more pancakes?” Steve asks to distract the boy.

 

“More, please!” he nods and holds up his plate, still with 2 uneaten pancakes on it.

 

“Yes, Sir!” Steve laughs and turns back to the stove to pour more batter.

 

“What’s all the racket down here?” Danny asks sleepily as he shuffles into the kitchen. He goes immediately to Grace, who is closest to the door, and kisses her, then walks around to Charlie and does the same. And then he walks over to Steve in front of the stove and nuzzles his neck, giving him a quick kiss there.

 

Danny’s in shorts and a t-shirt and his hair is a mess of bedhead that he’s tried to comb through with his fingers but with limited success; a grin breaks out on Steve’s face at the sight of it. “Good morning,” Steve greets him happily as Danny reaches for the coffee.

 

“Morning, yourself,” Danny answers, his mouth cracking open in a deep yawn.

 

“Did we wake you, Princess?” Steve teases.

 

“Princess!” Charlie parrots and giggles.

 

Danny growls and swoops in to grab his son. “I’m not a princess, I’m a dragon!” he roars as he holds Charlie up and raspberries his cheek. Charlie squeals with laughter. Danny then manages a quick flip and suddenly Charlie is upside-down and Danny’s got him by his ankles, swaying him back and forth. Charlie lets out with a deep belly laugh, his face going a bright shade of red.

 

“Uh, you might wanna be careful there, Danno, unless you want a whole bunch of half-digested chocolate pancakes all over the floor,” Steve helpfully points out.

 

Danny’s eyes flick wide for a second and he flips Charlie upright again.

 

“Again!” Charlie yells, still giggling.

 

“Whoa, there Cowboy!” Danny says, putting Charlie back in his chair. “We don’t want you to lose your breakfast.”

 

“Speaking of… you want some pancakes, Danno?”

 

“Are you kidding?” Danny says, winking at Grace. “When have I ever passed up pancakes?”

 

“Steve gave us chocolate syrup today,” Grace points out.

 

“Yum!” Danny answers and then pulls a puzzled face when the other three laugh in unison.   “What?” he asks, sounding petulant.

 

Grace grins at him. “Charlie knew you’d say that.”

 

“What else would I say to chocolate pancakes?” Danny asks, and digs in.

 

xoxoxo

 

“Monkey! Cowboy! Time to go!” Danny yells up the stairs at 12:45.

 

Steve offered to take the kids back to Rachel’s on his way into the office this afternoon so that Danny could have a little more time to work on his gala planning (since his realization about how important the fund-raiser is, Steve wants to make sure he’s as helpful as possible to Danny in his efforts). But Danny declined his offer and is driving the kids back himself and Steve’s not really surprised; he knows that Danny will always choose time with his kids over anything else – even if it’s just fifteen extra minutes in the car.

 

“Good-bye, Uncle Steve,” Grace says wrapping her arms around his neck. She squeezes him tight and whispers in his ear, “I’ll text you a photo of the dress if we find one today.”

 

“Thanks, sweetie,” he whispers back, then gives her a conspiratorial grin.

 

Charlie bounces down the stairs. “Horsey ride!” he demands, and Danny turns around so the little boy can leap onto his back from the fourth step.

 

Danny starts to gallop along with Charlie on his back and Steve opens the door for them.

 

“See you later partner!” Steve yells, and he’s not sure if he’s talking to Danny or Charlie – maybe both.

 

xoxoxo

While Danny takes the kids home, Steve runs into the office to check if there’s been any progress on the three stakeouts (there hasn’t) and he spends a little time starting to run background to see if any of their suspects might have access to a forklift. It’s a big job though and he spends a few hours on Bryce Cole but finds nothing, so he finally throws in the towel at 4:30.

 

Just as he’s pulling into the driveway, he gets a text from Grace – it’s a picture of her in a pretty blue dress, almost exactly the same color as Danny’s eyes. “Perfect!” he texts back to her just seconds before another photo arrives of her holding a blue-striped tie; it matches the dress impeccably. Steve shoots a quick thank you text to Rachel and heads in to the house.

 

xoxoxo

 

The Seahawks-Panthers game has long been over by the time Steve and Danny sit down to watch it. By unspoken agreement, both of them have avoided the radio and any websites that might reveal the score to them before they get to see it play out for themselves.

 

It’s 6:00 before they both sit down on the couch together, Chinese take-out in hand, and settle in to watch the game. They’re both rooting for the Seahawks. Steve, because when he returned to Hawai’i six years ago, he picked the Seahawks as his choice for a ‘home team’ because they are on the West Coast, but less obvious or predictable than the California teams. Danny, on the other hand, professes an appreciation for Seahawks quarterback, Russell Wilson. Steve suspects it’s because his partner sees something of himself in the short, scrappy quarterback, who many people underestimated before he showed them what he’s capable of. But Steve will never say that out loud.

 

The pre-game show is on and Danny is watching attentively, but Steve gets distracted watching Danny. He thinks about the day that he met Danny in the hospital after Charlie was born, and seeing the gut-wrenching disappointment in his eyes. But none of that matters now, because the two of them clicked so quickly that it’s almost hard to remember that they weren’t always a part of each other’s lives. Danny’s always been a natural father, so it shouldn’t really have been a surprise, but Steve had found that watching him and Charlie bond was... a joy to behold. The love that Danny immediately had for Charlie was expected. But the way Charlie had taken to Danny – a virtual stranger in his life until eight months ago – was profoundly moving. Danny had worried, of course - he wouldn’t be Danny if he didn’t – but Steve had just reassured him and then sat back and watched as the two of them made a connection that only a father and son could share.  

 

“What?” Danny startles Steve out of his thoughts.

 

“What, what?”

 

“You’re staring at me.”

 

“Just thinking…”

 

“About…?”

 

Steve shrugs. “You and Charlie.”

 

Danny beams. “He’s a great kid.”

 

“Yeah, he is,” Steve agrees.

 

“You know, it’s been so long since Grace was that little, I forgot how goofy a four-year-old’s mind can be.”

 

“Whaddaya mean?” Steve asks, smiling already, eager to hear more about Charlie’s silliness.

 

“Well, like today in the car on the way back to Rachel’s, he kept saying how my favorite color is blue and I have a lot of blue shirts.”

 

Steve chokes a little on the noodles he had just scooped into his mouth. “Well, uh, that’s true... You do have a lot of blue shirts.”

 

“That doesn’t mean it’s my favorite color.”

 

“So, what is?” Steve asks, his mind going immediately to Grace’s blue dress and wondering if it can be exchanged.

 

“Well, it just so happens that, yes, my favorite color is blue, but don’t you think it’s a little funny that my four-year-old son is commenting on my sartorial choices?”

 

“Um…”

 

“And then he started complaining that he doesn’t want to wear a tie! Honestly, it was very strange…”

 

“Oh, hey! It’s kick-off,” Steve says loudly, pointing at the television, desperately hoping to get Danny to switch his attention to other things.

 

“Finally!” Danny says, leaning over toward Steve a little bit.

 

“You know, we could have fast-forwarded through the pre-game…”

 

“Pssstt!” Danny answers. “You gotta watch the pre-game. Now shut-up so I can hear the color.”

 

Steve shuts up and breathes a little sigh of relief that his partner is suitably distracted for at least a few hours, then he puts his nearly-empty take-out container on the table and reaches his arm around Danny to pull him in closer.

 

xoxoxo

 

~~Grace’s dress~~

Don’t say ANYTHING around Charlie!

 

 

 

 


	18. Celebrating a holiday

  

_ Monday, January 18th1 _

 

Around noon, the office manager from the West Side Dental Clinic calls Danny. The clinic is actually closed today for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, but a few of the staff are there to do some routine tasks, one of which is rotating the nearly empty nitrous oxide tanks. The dental tech that had gone to get the replacements had noticed that the date on the tag on one of the tanks was older than the others, even though it was placed further back in the storage closet, so she had grabbed it first. When they hooked it up and bled the line, they found that it was, in fact, empty.

 

Danny asks if there could have been any kind of mix up or if that had ever happened before and she assures him that, no, this was very unusual.  

 

Danny asks her who in the office has keys to the locked supply closet. She tells him that anyone who has a key to the building can also get into the supply closet, which is three-quarters of the staff – including Alison Johnson.

 

The team gathers around the tech table. It’s their first possible break on this case and they’re all feeling the zing of adrenaline. They decide to focus their efforts on Harley and James, because of Harley’s ties to the dental office.

 

“So, if they pumped the gallery with nitrous oxide, how did they avoid being affected by it themselves?” Steve throws out there.

 

“The jewelry store manager said they both had loaded backpacks on. Maybe they had some oxygen and breathing apparatuses in them,” Chin suggests.

 

“Does the aunt use an oxygen tank?” Lou asks Danny and Steve, since they were the ones to visit the Kamihana house.

 

“No, not that I saw,” Steve answers and Danny nods in agreement. “Lou, check with medical supply companies and see if either Harley or James might have purchased any oxygen tanks. Chin, Kono, check the scuba rental places on the island - they could have used scuba equipment.”

 

“What are we gonna do?” Danny asks after the others have left.

 

“I’m going to call Sean and see if he knows if either James or Harley are divers.   You see if you can find Alison Johnson.”

 

When Sean tells Steve that, yes, in fact, James and Harley had grown up scuba diving together, he really starts to think for the first time that maybe they’re getting somewhere.

 

xoxoxo

 

Two hours and several phone calls later, they learn that the girlfriend went to Lahaina for the three-day weekend and won’t be back until the next morning – looks like another trip to the airport.

 

“Hey, listen, I need to get over to Grace’s school for another debrief with the PTA,” Danny tells Steve as they’re driving back to the Palace after talking to one of Alison's roommates at the Waikiki Aquarium, where she works.

 

Steve panics a little inside; he’s been worried since last week that one of those PTA women will accidently spill the beans. “Right. I’ll go with you,” Steve volunteers.

 

“Steven, while I appreciate your willingness to help out, I wouldn’t inflict these women on you twice. I’ll drop you at the office and then swing by and pick you up after the meeting.”

 

Steve flicks his eyes to the clock on the dash. “Look, Danny, it’s 2:55 now… if you drop me at the Palace first, you’ll be really late.”

 

“I don’t care,” Danny retorts; he’s clearly getting tired of these women.

 

Steve ignores him and makes a right turn so he can head to the school rather than the Palace. Danny registers the direction change and sighs. “Suit yourself,” he mumbles – mostly to himself.

 

They get to the school a few minutes late, but the meeting hasn’t quite started yet and they find some seats at a table in the back.

 

“Commander McGarrett!” the woman Steve _thinks_ is Collette, gushes when she sees them and all heads turn; two dozen bright smiles are suddenly beamed their way.

 

“Hi,” Steve smiles sheepishly and gives a little half-wave as he’s sitting down.

 

Danny shoots him an accusatory look. “Seriously? You’re going to try to tell me that you did not flirt with these women when they react that way when you walk in the door?” Danny huffs indignantly.

 

“Okay,” Steve confesses. “Maybe I turned the charm on a little when I was here last time. But I did it for _you_ , buddy.” They’re speaking low so the others won’t hear them. “I mean, you’re the one who apparently doesn’t maintain his car well enough so that the spark plugs don’t loosen up.” Steve’s not above trying to make Danny believe the car problems were his fault if it gets him off the scent.

 

“You’re the one who drives it all the time!” Danny whispers forcefully. “I’m sure it was your insane driving that caused the problem in the first place. _You_ should be maintaining my car!”

 

“Shhh,” Steve shushes him with a finger to his lips. “The meeting’s starting.” He can feel Danny’s eyes lingering on him and he can picture the look of outrage Danny's face must be wearing, but Steve resolutely does not look his way.

 

They sit through the standard introductory items (approval of minutes, President’s report, Treasurer’s report, etc.), before Kelly Rushmore asks Danny to update them on his progress with the gala.

 

Danny stands up and gives his report. When he’s done, one of the women waves her hand and Kelly nods in her direction. “Do _you_ have anything to add Commander McGarrett?” she asks flirtatiously.

 

Steve’s about to stand up, and Danny doesn’t even look over at him but he puts his hand out to stop him. “No, no… he doesn’t have anything to add. He’s… not planning this event, I am, thank you,” Danny nods with a half grimace/half smile. “He only came last time because I was unexpectedly detained – which was probably his fault, actually – but I’m here today, so he doesn’t need to speak,” Danny tells them definitively.

 

Steve just smiles at them and shrugs.

 

“How are your plans coming, Commander?” another woman calls out, and Steve blanches.

 

“ _His_ plans? He doesn’t _have_ any plans. Did you not hear me tell you that he has nothing to say?” Danny snaps in frustration.

 

“He’s right,” Steve pipes up. “I don’t have any plans,” he tries to sound nonchalant. Thankfully, Danny is standing a half-step in front of where he is sitting, so Steve tries to subtly wave his hands in the universal gesture of _“STOP”_. For God’s sake… _these women!_

 

“Okay, that’s quite enough,” Kelly Rushmore comes to his rescue. “Thank you, Mr. Williams, for your report. It sounds like things are coming along well and we’ll look forward to hearing more next week.” Danny starts to sit down. “And thank you, Commander McGarrett, for being here today, too,” she beams at him.

 

Danny gives her a confounded look and then turns and glares at Steve again, but he is just smiling as charming as can be. As soon as Caroline starts her report about the class art projects, Danny nudges Steve to get up and leave, and then pushes him out into the hall.

 

“What the hell was that?” Danny demands.

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Steve replies innocently.

 

“Don’t give me that! Why do they want your report? Why are they asking you about your plans?”

 

Steve turns his palms upward gesturing his obliviousness. “I have no idea, Danny. Come on, who knows what’s going through these women’s minds.”

 

“They seem to think you know something – or are planning something.”

 

Steve’s mind scrambles for something to say. He has a vague memory about something one of the women might have said last week and goes with it. “Okay, Danny… the truth is, one of the women cornered me after the meeting and she wanted me to use my influence with you when you’re doing the seating arrangement to make sure she gets put at the table with some particular person or another.” There, that should work.

 

Steve almost laughs at the expression on his partner’s face. “I have to do a _seating arrangement_?!” Danny groans.

 

“Uh, I guess.”

 

“Who was it? Was it Joyce?” Danny asks. “Rachel says she’s a social climber,” he adds distractedly.

 

“I don’t know Danny. I wasn’t taking names.”

 

“Why didn’t she just ask _me_?” Danny asks suspiciously.

 

“I have no idea. Personally, I think she’s a little… you know…” Steve twirls his finger next to his head in a ‘crazy’ gesture. He's not above throwing any of these women under the bus to cover for himself – especially when they caused the problem in the first place!

 

Danny turns and glances back at the closed library door. “I think you’re right… she’s always been kinda strange.”

 

“Right… can we get outta here now, please? We still need to pick up some stuff for tonight.”

 

“Gladly,” Danny answers, and Steve breathes a sigh of relief.

 

xoxoxo

 

Last year, on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the team gathered at Steve’s for a casual barbeque and it feels like a nice tradition, so they’ve planned it again this year. Steve and Danny pick up steaks and beer and everyone brings something as well. Renee makes her special potato salad, causing Danny to go on another tear about his mom’s mashed potatoes. Steve suddenly remembers something he forgot to take care of and looks at his watch. He decides it’s not too late and he slips inside to make the call.

  

“Hello, Steven!” Clara’s voice greets him cheerfully before he can say anything, the caller ID giving him away.

 

“Hey, Clara, how’re you?”

 

“I’m fabulous. And I have to tell you, we are all so excited about going to Hawai’i and the wedding!”

 

“Listen, Clara. Don’t forget… it’s a surprise. So you all have to be really careful not to let anything slip to Danny.”

 

“Of course not! Our lips are sealed!”

 

Hopefully better than those PTA women, Steve thinks ruefully.

 

“So, Clara… I was hoping I could ask you a favor.”

 

“Anything, Steven.”

 

“Well, Danny’s always talking about your mashed potatoes and how they are the best thing in the world…”

 

“After pizza,” she interrupts.

 

Steve smiles. “Right… after pizza. Anyway, I was wondering if you would be willing to make some for the party after the reception.”

 

“For how many people?”

 

“About thirty.”

 

“That’s a lot of potatoes…”

 

“Yeah… if I got you some help, do you think you could do it?” Steve presses. “I can get people to help you do the peeling and the mashing… it’s just that he always says no one makes mashed potatoes like you – it’s gotta be your recipe.”

 

“Yes, Daniel can be a little finicky when it comes to other people’s mashed potatoes.”

 

“You’re telling me!” Steve laughs. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Danny eat a potato when he hasn’t compared them to yours. And yours always win!”

 

“Well, in that case, sure Steve. I’d be happy to. Anything for my boy. I _will_ need some help though.”

 

“Right. No problem. I’ll have a bunch of people ready to help,” he promises her. “Oh, hey, Clara… here comes Danny, I gotta go!” he rushes out and disconnects the call before she can even respond. He’ll text her an apology later.

 

“Who was that?” Danny asks as he pushes through the door into the kitchen with and armful of empty plates.

 

“The Governor,” Steve lies.

 

“Again? Jeez, he’s really all over you about this case.”

 

“Yeah, well, he’s anxious for us to make some progress.”

 

“Him and me both,” Danny grumbles. “Come on. Come back outside. Chin’s about to call up the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech for us all to watch.

 

xoxoxo

 

~~Confirm potatoes with Clara~~

Make sure PTA doesn’t spill it!

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and to honor that, I've included a link to the full transcript of his famous, "I Have a Dream" speech. I'm pretty sure that most of us have heard that clip from the speech many times and it is very powerful. But, many people have never heard the full speech, which was actually quite a bit longer. As I understand it, singer Mahalia Jackson was standing near MLK, and near the end of his speech, she called out to him "Tell us about your dream, Martin!" From there, MLK went off-script and more-or-less ad-libbed the rest - all of the "dream" part. It's a pretty amazing piece of oration, and you can find the full text here:
> 
> http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm
> 
> Of course, you can watch the speech if you prefer that to reading - YouTube has many videos. The full speech videos will be 16 or 17 minutes long.


	19. At home

_ Tuesday, January 19th _

 

“What are you doing?!” Danny barks out, clearly unhappy to be woken up so early. Steve has draped his body over Danny’s on the bed, and he’s damp from his swim. “You’re all wet!”

 

“Come on, Danno. We have to get out early today so we can meet Alison Johnson’s flight at the airport.”

 

“Nooooo… no, no, no…” Danny mumbles, turning his face into his pillow.

 

“I brought coffee,” Steve murmurs seductively in Danny’s ear.

 

Danny cracks one eye open and looks at him.

 

Steve sticks his finger into the coffee and then brings it to Danny’s lips, trying to coax him awake. Danny immediately flicks his tongue out to taste it and then he sucks Steve’s finger into his mouth; Steve’s eyes close automatically at the erotic sensation.

 

Danny sucks for a moment, running his tongue back and forth and Steve’s breath hitches. “Danny…” he forces himself to say. “We don’t have time…”

 

Danny spits out Steve’s finger and rolls over, pushing Steve off of himself and reaching for the coffee. It’s cooled enough that he can take a pretty big swig, and then he takes another, and another.

 

“I wish we could just stay home today…” Danny whines, flopping back down on the bed again.

 

“Are you okay? Are you feeling sick?” Steve asks with quick concern.

 

“Down, boy. I’m fine. Just… feels good here," he sat, burrowing down into the blanket again.  "Don’t you ever just wanna play hooky?”

 

“Danny, we’re in the middle of a case!”

 

Danny rolls his eyes and throws the blanket off of himself. “I know – _Boss_. Jeez, you don’t have a mischievous bone in your body, do you?” he asks as he pads naked into the bathroom.

 

Steve huffs to himself… if only Danny knew!

 

Steve hears the shower start and he gets up, doing a quick time check. It might be a little rushed, but they’ve done it faster before... He hastily strips off his board shorts and walks into the bathroom where he can see Danny through the clear-glass door; just the sight of him quickens Steve’s pulse a little. Yeah, they definitely have time, he decides.

 

xoxoxo

 

Steve and Danny make it to the airport just in time to find Alison Johnson as she’s picking up her suitcase at baggage claim. They have her in the rendition room by 8:00am.

 

She’s adamant that she did not steal the nitrous oxide from her employers and nearly hysterical that she’s being accused.

 

“Tell us about your boyfriend,” Steve changes tack.

 

“What?” she asks, staring at Steve with confusion.

 

“Tell us about Harley Mitchell,” Danny repeats.

 

Alison finally tears her eyes off Steve and turns toward Danny. “Why…? Why do you want to know about him?”

 

“Does he have access to your keys?” Steve asks quickly and her head swivels back to him.

 

“What?” she’s perplexed. “What do you mean, ‘access’?”

 

“I mean, is it possible that he could have taken your keys and gone to the clinic and stolen the nitrous oxide?”

 

“Why would he want to do that?” she asks, seemingly bewildered. “I mean, sure, he likes to get high, but he’s got regular suppliers… Plus, he’s kinda lazy and I don’t think he’s ever been desperate enough that he would go to the trouble to break into West Side - especially for a high that doesn’t last very long.” After a second, she seems to realize what she’s revealed. “I mean… _if_ he used drugs…” she adds weakly.

 

“Look, we don’t care if Harley does drugs or not. And if he took the NO2, we don’t think it was to huff it. We just want to know if it’s possible that he could have used your keys to get at it.”

 

“Ye – es… it’s possible,” she concedes.

 

Danny looks at her intently. “What?”

 

“What do you mean?” she asks nervously.

 

“Well it seems like maybe you thought of something just then, when you said ‘ye – es’,” Danny mimics her.

 

She looks down and doesn’t say anything.

 

“Alison, you need to talk to us here,” Steve steps in. “Harley might be in some trouble and so far, I’m inclined to believe you don’t know anything about it, but if you keep stonewalling us, I’m probably gonna change my mind. If you know something, you need to tell us.”

 

She looks up reluctantly. “I couldn’t find my keys a few weeks ago. They disappeared for a couple of days.”

 

“When exactly was that?” Steve probes.

 

“Between Christmas and New Year’s.”

 

Steve and Danny exchange a look.

 

“Were you with Harley on New Year’s Eve?”

 

“Yes. He and James and I went to some parties.”

 

“James was with you, too?” Danny questions.

 

“Yes.”

 

“What time did you go to your parties?” Danny asks.

 

“I guess we left around 9:00.”

 

That would be late enough that Harley and/or James could have stolen the painting and still gone out to party.

 

“Alison, did Harley or James ever mention anything about a painting?” Steve takes over.

 

“You mean like the one Sean was guarding?”

 

“Yeah, like that one.”

 

“No… no, never.”

 

“Are you sure?”

 

“You don’t think James had anything to do with that, do you?”

 

Danny looks at Steve then back at Alison. “See, now that’s interesting. Harley’s your boyfriend but you’re only questioning whether James might have had anything to do with it.”

 

Alison sighs and slumps a little further in the chair. “Look, he’s not my boyfriend anymore, okay? I called Harley yesterday and broke up with him. I went to Lahaina this weekend to get away and try to figure out what I wanted to do.”

 

“Do you know something about this theft, Alison?” Steve asks sternly.

 

“ _NO!_ I swear I don’t. And Harley’s not a bad guy or anything… but… he’s just… not motivated to do anything but mooch off of everyone he knows – including James. So, I don’t _know_ if Harley had anything to do with that painting being stolen, but I guess I wouldn’t be surprised.”

 

“Okay, Alison. Listen, I need you to think if there was anything at all that Harley or James might have said that could have been about the painting.”

 

She pauses in thought for a moment. “I… I don’t think so.”

 

A sharp knock on the door makes them turn and Chin’s head appears a second later. He gestures for them to step out.

 

Once the door is closed, Chin shares what he’s found out. “Well, he went to pretty much the farthest shop he could and still be in Honolulu, but we found it. Aqua Zone down on Kalakaua Avenue said they rented two sets of scuba gear to Harley Mitchell on December 30th. He returned them on January 2nd. According to their records, both tanks were about half–full when he returned them.”

 

Steve just smiles and opens the door, walking directly up to Alison who looks a little terrified at his determined expression.

 

“Alison, did Harley and James go scuba diving at all New Year’s weekend?”

 

“What?”

 

“Scuba diving. Do you know if they went scuba diving that weekend?” Steve presses.

 

“Well, I can’t say whether James did or not, but Harley was at my apartment or we were out together pretty much the whole weekend; I know _he_ didn’t go scuba diving.”

 

“What about on Saturday. Was he with you all day on Saturday?”

 

Alison thinks for a moment. “No… he did leave for a couple hours. He said he had some errands to run. But he wasn’t gone that long. I don’t think he went scuba diving.”

 

“I don’t either,” Steve says with satisfaction.

 

xoxoxo

 

They get more details from Alison about where the three of them went on New Year’s Eve and about what she and Harley did the rest of the weekend, and then release her after instructing her not to talk to Harley or anyone else about their conversation. She’s terrified enough by the whole experience that they’re confident she won’t.

 

They haven’t yet been able to identify any potential places that they could have hidden a painting that size, so they decide to pursue that angle for now. Rather than picking up Harley and James, they’ll continue to surveil them, hoping they might lead them to the painting.

 

xoxoxo

 

Later that night, they’re back home and Danny is working on the couch and Steve is sitting next to him reading, when Steve sees his partner drop his head back and hears him groan.

 

“What’s up, Danno?”

 

Danny lifts his head and looks in Steve’s direction.

 

“The RSVPs are starting to pour into my email. It’s an even better turnout than we expected,” Danny groans again.

 

“That’s great, Danny. I mean… that _is_ good news, right?”

 

“Sure, I guess. But almost every single one of them includes a request – nay, a demand - to sit at a table with some specific person or another. Or _not_ sit with someone.” Danny groans again.

 

“Is it that big of a deal?”

 

“Are you kidding me? _Yes_ , it’s a big deal! There is a pecking order at the school, Steven, and certain people, who are of a higher social strata, will not deign to sit at a table with other people, who they believe are of a lower social strata. And also, some people just don’t like other people, so there’s that. I already I have at least 40 emails from people requesting to sit with this person or demanding _not_ to sit with that person. It’s going to be impossible to make everyone happy!”

 

“Huh,” is all Steve can think of to say, because, really what the hell does he know about that kind of thing.

 

“That’s it? _‘Huh’_? I am trapped in the seventh circle of hell and all you have to say about it is, ‘huh?’”

 

“Sorry, Danno. I’m way out of my depth here.”

 

“And I’m _not_? This is a crisis, Steven! If everyone hates who they’re sitting with they’ll be unhappy at the event and, at best, they’ll be mad and just not bid on things, and at worst, they’ll leave early and not buy anything! If that happens and the gala bombs, Charlie will never get into that school, and if Charlie doesn’t get into that school-”

 

And Steve knows what happens if Charlie doesn’t get into that school because Danny’s told him several times. “Okay, okay, just… relax,” Steve tries to calm him.

 

“ _Relax!_ I will not be relaxing until this stupid thing is over with! Crazy rich people coming at me from all directions about table assignments; the Botox queen emailing me constantly to make sure I’ve got things right; my family descending on me all at once… I swear to God, when this thing is over, I am buying a plane ticket and disappearing for two weeks – _alone_ – so I can just sit in silence and try to recover my sanity!”

 

And since Steve doesn’t know what else to do, he bends around and plants a searing kiss on Danny’s mouth.

 

Danny resists for a split second and then gives into it, giving as good as he’s getting, pushing back against Steve and then eventually twisting them and crawling into his lap.

 

“Is this you trying to relax me?” Danny pants a moment later, when he finds he needs to stop in order to breathe.

 

“Is it working?” Steve pants back at him.

 

“Yep,” Danny answers and then dives back in.

 

They sit on the couch and make out like teenagers for what seems like an eternity before Danny pulls back and rests his forehead on Steve’s collarbone.

 

“I feel much better now,” he says, sounding infinitely more relaxed.

 

“Well, that was my goal,” Steve says, sounding slightly smug.

 

“Was that your only goal?” Danny leans back and quirks an eyebrow at Steve.

 

“Well, I was just generally trying to seduce you, too,” Steve admits.

 

“Hmmmm… I think maybe it’s working,” Danny murmurs as his mouth dips down to lick the veins on Steve’s neck.

 

“Is it?” Steve asks, turning his head to find Danny’s mouth again.

 

There’s only the sound of wet contact for a long while until Danny pulls away and eases himself off of Steve’s lap.

 

Steve feels suddenly cold and bereft and sits up a little to look at Danny questioningly.

 

Danny rolls his head to look at his partner and smiles. “I love this. Us… like this… here at home… together,” he babbles almost nonsensically.

 

“Uh, yeah, me too,” Steve agrees. “But, uh… do you think you can come back here?” he whines, tugging at Danny’s shirt and looking pointedly at the bulge in his pants.

 

Danny huffs a small laugh. “I’ve got a better idea,” he says, leaning in and swiping his tongue along Steve’s neck, causing a desperate noise to escape from the back of his throat. “Let’s go upstairs. I have plans.”

 

xoxoxo

 

Turns out, Steve’s too busy to make any progress at all on his plans tonight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	20. On the couch

 

_ Wednesday, January 20th _

 

Steve blinks awake at 5:30 am in a state of panic. He’s forgotten about Danny’s tux. They’ll need to get to the tux shop and get him fitted soon if he’s going to be sure that it will be ready in time for the 30th.

 

He slips out of bed and is in the ocean a couple minutes later, working through the minor problem of how he’s going to convince Danny that he needs to wear a tux to this event. In fact, he’s pretty sure that formal wear might be over-dressed, even for this crow, but he needs Danny in a tux for the wedding, so he needs to convince him to get one for the gala that he will not actually be going to.

 

As soon as he finishes his swim and returns to the house, he grabs his phone and shoots off an email to Kelly Rushmore, fairly confident that she’ll be able to help him with this little problem. He shamelessly adds a smiley emoticon at the end of the message, because Steve’s not above flirting electronically if it will grease the wheels and convince Kelly to send the email he needs her to send.

 

That done, he goes to the kitchen to start the coffee and then heads upstairs to shower and rouse his partner.

 

xoxoxo

 

“Oh, for the love of…” Danny sighs as he messes with his phone in the car on the way to the Palace.

 

“What?” Steve asks, though he suspects he already knows.

 

“I got an email from the PTA Nazi reminding me that as the event coordinator, I’ll need to be dressed in the appropriate formal wear.  _Reminding_ me… as though she had already told me this – which she did _not_ , by the way,” Danny grumbles in frustration.

 

“What? You mean like a tux or something?” Steve feigns ignorance.

 

“Apparently…” Danny gripes and then taps at his phone for a moment. “Shit…”

 

“What?” Steve shoots a glance at Danny and then back to the road.

 

“We’re probably going to need to go to the tux shop today if we’re going to be sure to have them in time for the gala.”

 

“Um… excuse me?  Them?”

 

Danny glares at Steve. “Yes, them! If I have to wear a tuxedo next Saturday, then you are wearing one, too!”

 

“Maybe I could just wear my dress blues,” Steve suggests, because he knows that’s what he’ll be wearing that night.

 

“No. No way. If I have to run this ridiculous event and wear a monkey suit doing it, then you have to suffer alongside of me.”

 

“Whatever you say, Danno,” Steve answers, smirking, and making a mental note to shoot a thank-you email off to Kelly Rushmore; he needs to stay in her good graces if he wants to count on her continued help with his op. But his mind is already working on how he’s going to find a way to _not_ wear his tux on the 30th; he’s confident he’ll be able to come up with something by the wedding day. In the meantime, he’ll go and get fitted for a tux and let Danny believe he’s going to wear it; Steve’s not above this small charade to help keep Danny in the dark about his real intentions for that day.

 

xoxoxo

 

“Harley seems like a good bet at this point, but I’m still not sure about James,” Lou says as they’re gathered around the tech table.

 

“At this point, I’m not either,” Steve concurs. “I want us to focus today on trying to figure out where either of those two might hide something as big as the painting, and also, we need to go deeper on the truck and forklift rental angles.”

 

The team splits apart and each goes into their own office to try to run down any angles they can and the office is quiet all day, but there’s a hum of excited energy as they are focused on their computers or on their phones. And even though none of them comes up with anything particularly concrete, they’re still feeling pretty positive at the end of the day.

 

At 4:00, Steve shuts down his computer and pokes his head into Danny’s office. “Hey, you wanna head over to Phil’s? … Get fitted?”

 

Danny sighs and closes his laptop. “I guess we better,” he mutters, looking up at Steve. “What’re you grinning at?”

 

“Just thinking about how much I like seeing you in a tux.”

 

Danny rolls his eyes. “Come on, let’s get this over with…”

 

xoxoxo

 

“Hey, Danny, how about this one?” Steve asks him, holding up a blue tie that he’s pretty sure is almost exactly the same color as Grace’s dress and Charlie’s striped tie. The tailor is taking some of Danny’s measurements while Steve’s been wandering around looking at tie options.

 

“Uh, I dunno… I was thinking about going with classic black.”

 

“What? _No!_ ” Steve says, then cringes inside when he realizes how strongly he reacted.

 

Danny cocks his head and looks at Steve. “Why does it matter?” he asks slowly.

 

“It doesn’t,” Steve shrugs, trying fro nonchalance. “I just though, you know, your favorite color is blue…”

 

“Why is everyone suddenly so interested in my sartorial choices?” Danny huffs.

 

Steve steps close and drapes the blue tie around Danny’s neck. “It’s just that it looks good with your eyes.”

 

Danny rolls said eyes. “But if you’re not wearing a bow tie – which I’m _not_ – it just looks like you’re wearing a black suit,” he says, pulling off the tie and stepping back into the dressing room to change back into his own pants.

 

While he’s in there, Steve takes the tailor aside and whispers, “Hey look, I really need him to wear this blue tie. I’ll explain later, but do me a favor and help me convince him, will you?”

 

He raises his eyebrows and Steve puts a finger to his lips as they hear the dressing room door open.

 

“You know, I think he's is right. The blue would look great on you. And trust me, everyone will know you are wearing a tuxedo,” the tailor tells Danny.

 

“I swear to God, it’s a conspiracy. First my son, then Steve and now you?” Danny turns and looks at Steve. “What color are you wearing?

 

“Whatever color you want, Danny.” It’s easy for Steve to say because he knows that he won’t be wearing the tuxedo at all, regardless of what tie color Danny picks out.

 

Danny eyes him speculatively, like he’s going to pick something horrible, and then deflates a little. “Oh, whatever,” he flaps his hand. “Basic black looks great on you. Wear that.”

 

Steve gives him a half-smile. “Bow-tie?”

 

“Sure, why not? Makes you look a little like James Bond.”

 

The tailor hums his agreement and then pushes Steve into a dressing room to change so he can be fitted as well.

 

xoxoxo

 

Later that evening, the two of them are sitting side by side on the couch, Steve reading a magazine, Danny poking away at his computer and sighing heavily every few minutes. Steve periodically chances a quick glance at this partner and each time his face seems to be more scrunched-up and frustrated looking.

 

“What are you working on?” Steve finally asks him.

 

“I’m making a spreadsheet with all the table assignment requests I’ve gotten. Seventy-nine separate requests so far, and still two days before the RSVP deadline,” Danny says, sounding annoyed.

 

“Once you have them all, maybe we can write an algorithm to work that out for you,” Steve suggests casually, then turns back to his magazine.

 

Danny stares at him for a moment and then sets his computer on the coffee table in front of them.

 

“Uh, what are you doing?” Steve asks him, as Danny slips onto the floor and kneels between Steve’s knees.

 

“What does it look like I’m doing,” Danny asks in response, his fingers deftly unbuckling Steve’s belt.

 

“Actually, it kinda looks like you’re procrastinating.”

 

Danny freezes just as his fingers are grasping Steve’s zipper. “Well, I _was_ going to give you a blowjob, but, I can go back to my spreadsheet if you want,” Danny raises an eyebrow at Steve.

 

“ _No!_ ” Steve interjects. “Procrastinating is fine. Procrastinating is good.”

 

Danny gives him a smug looks and pulls the zipper down, excruciatingly slowly.

 

Steve watches him, his breath hitching as Danny starts to ease him out of his pants. Steve lifts his hips to help and a few seconds later, he is naked from the waist down. He’s not really hard yet because this came out the blue and he didn’t even have sex on his mind two minutes ago, but Steve’s happy to switch gears quickly if it means a blowjob is in the picture.

 

Danny hums as he bends down and envelopes Steve’s cock in the warm heat of his mouth, and Steve makes a small, happy noise. He can hear Danny breathing heavily through his nose as he works Steve’s rapidly-thickening cock, and he finally lets himself go, relaxing into the couch and resting one hand gently on Danny’s head.

 

Danny slides his mouth up and down slowly, pulling off every few times to stroke his hand quickly up and down Steve’s shaft until he’s finally fully erect. Steve looks down at Danny through heavily hooded eyes and sees him flick his blue eyes up at him.

 

Danny pulls up and sucks at just the head of Steve’s cock for a moment and Steve squeaks a little. Then Danny pulls off and sits up, pumping Steve’s cock with his right hand and reaching up to pull Steve in with his left. Danny’s lips are red and shiny with spit and he reaches deep with his tongue, turning his head and eating at Steve’s mouth.

 

A few seconds later, Danny’s mouth is back on Steve’s cock and Steve hisses and can’t stop himself from jerking his hips. “Sorry… sorry…” he chokes, one hand going instinctively to Danny’s shoulder to gently rub in apology.

 

Danny hums his reassurance that he’s fine and sucks harder, and Steve’s hips jerk again.

 

“Jesus, Danny… you gotta stop that or I’m gonna…”

 

“Gonna what?” Danny pulls off and asks, but before Steve can even think about formulating an answer, Danny’s tongue is searching deep and wet and dirty into Steve’s mouth again.

 

Steve’s hand joins Danny’s on his cock, and he can feel Danny pressing his own erection into his leg, rutting hard against the inside of Steve’s knee. Danny’s mouth peels away and his tongue attacks Steve’s neck, licking wet stripes along the veins that are thick with his pounding pulse. There’s no let-up of Danny’s hand and Steve can tell he’s getting close.

 

“Danny,” Steve gives a strangled warning, hoping that he’ll bring that wicked tongue back to his mouth, but instead, Danny lifts his head and spares him the briefest of glances, then dives back down to Steve’s cock.

 

Steve doesn’t even try to stop the heavy groan that pushes out, then he feels Danny bring both arms up to press down across his hips and he has a split second of insight before Danny hollows his cheeks and sucks hard, his tongue swiping hard across his frenulum.

 

“ _DANNY!_ ” Steve yells, his eyes rolling backward in his head, and then comes hard into Danny’s mouth – something Danny usually prefers to avoid. The pulses seem to go on forever and Steve drags his eyes down to be greeted by the completely filthy vision of his come slipping out of the sides of Danny’s mouth and down his chin. _Jesus_ , the sight of that alone has Steve clenching his eyes closed reflexively and bucking his hips against Danny’s pressure, as one last, weak pulse of come spits into Danny’s mouth.

 

Danny breaths out heavily through his nose, then slides his mouth slowly off of Steve’s cock, but mouths at the wet mess that remains, licking and kissing and sucking very lightly on the tip.

 

It takes every ounce of Steve’s remaining energy, but eventually he manages small tug at Danny’s shirt and Danny leans up again to kiss him. Steve licks at the come on Danny’s chin, cleaning him up and then plunging his tongue into Danny’s mouth again, tasting the last remnant of himself there.

 

Danny’s managed to free his own cock at some point and Steve pushes Danny over so they’re both lying down and he can get at it more readily. He knocks Danny’s hand away and takes over, gripping it hard, because he knows that’s what Danny wants right now. Danny gives in easily, reaching up to hold Steve’s head in place with both hands, pushing deep into his mouth yet again. A few minutes later, Steve feels Danny tense then hears the telltale groan of pleasure just before he feels the warm, sticky fluid coat his hand.

 

He works Danny through the last ripples of his orgasm, then wipes his hand on his own shirt and pulls Danny in close, scissoring their legs together and letting out a deeply contented sigh.

 

“That was unexpected,” Steve finally mumbles, nuzzling his face into Danny’s neck.

 

“Figured I owe you one…” Danny mumbles back.

 

Steve pulls his head back a little. “Owe me one? For what?” he asks, puzzled.

 

“I know what you’re doing,” Danny murmurs and pushes his face deeper into Steve.

 

Steve freezes, his body in instant panic mode. Danny knows? _Shit!_ How did he figure it out? What had Steve done to blow his op?

 

“What?” Steve manages to force out, the word catching in his throat and coming out rough.

 

“I really appreciate all the help you’ve given me with this gala,” Danny says, then yawns.

 

“The… gala?”

 

Danny pulls his head back and looks Steve in the eye. “Yeah, babe. I know how you’ve been sort of trying to help me deal with the whole stupid thing. Going to the PTA meetings, being a sport about the tuxes, writing algorithms…”

 

Steve relaxes considerably. “I just wanna help, Danny. I know it’s important to you for Charlie’s sake. You don’t have to give me sexual favors,” he laughs.

 

“I know that. But good behavior deserves a reward,” he says smiling and then drops his head back down.

 

“Well, I’m not gonna argue with you about it…” Steve says, and pulls Danny in close, squeezing him in a tight hold.

 

“Uh, babe?” Danny says a few minutes later, just as Steve is about to doze off.

 

“Hmmm?” he cracks an eye open again.

 

“You know I love you, and I appreciate all your help, but you know what would be really great right now?”

 

“What?” Steve asks sleepily.

 

“If you would, uh, release your he-man grip on me so I can go get cleaned up? And seriously, you too, you know what I mean?” he asks, pointedly looking at the come-stain on Steve’s shirt where he had wiped his hand.

 

“I do,” Steve answers, smiling to himself at his little pun, then pushing up off the couch.

 

xoxoxo

 

~~Get tuxedo rented for Danny~~

 

 

 

 


	21. Watching TV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops - actually thought I posted this this morning...

 

_ Thursday, January 21st _

 

The morning is quiet, as they’re all still digging, and at 12:30, Danny finally stands up, stretches the cricks out of his body, and ambles over to Steve’s office.

 

“Hey, you wanna go do a lunch run?”

 

“Sure. What’d you have in mind?”

 

“Tony’s?” Danny proposes hopefully.

 

But Steve doesn’t want him to over-Tony himself before the 30th, plus he feels like it would be smart to limit Danny’s exposure to people who are aware of the surprise wedding and might accidently spill it.

 

“Nah… not in the mood for pizza,” Steve says, and he sees a flicker of disappointment pass Danny’s face. “How about Miha’s,” he suggests, knowing it’s Danny’s favorite deli because they have a passable pastrami on rye.

 

Danny bobs his head back and forth. “Okay,” he acquiesces. “I’ll go see if anyone else wants anything.”

 

They gather the rest of the team’s order and head out to the deli. As Steve pulls the Camaro into the parking lot of Miha’s, he catches sight of the florist shop two doors down. He remembers that he has ‘flowers’ on his list of things to get for the wedding, but he hadn’t really put much thought into it yet.

 

Standing in line at the deli he starts to make a mental list of what he probably will need for the wedding in terms of flowers: he needs flowers for their flower girl (Grace); and it would probably be nice if Danny and Charlie had boutonnieres.  He can't wear one with his dress blues, since they are not to be embellished in any way, but he orders one anyway, to be ready for any contingency - just in case he does end up wearing the tux.  He thinks about getting one for Eddie, too, and then a corsage for Clara.  Hmmm… suddenly it’s more complicated than he originally thought.

 

“Hey, Danny,” Steve nudges his partner. “This line’s not moving very fast… I’m gonna step outside and call the Governor. He’s been harassing me for an update.”

 

Danny waves him off, furrowing his brow at his phone, looking at the growing list of email RSVPs with their special requests.

 

As soon as he’s outside, Steve bolts for the florist shop and quickly tells the woman at the counter what he needs. He’s not too concerned about the particulars – he just wants some sort of mix of blue and white flowers in all of the pieces, but she insists on showing him all the possible combinations. Steve absently points at the ones that seem to catch his eye and she praises him for his choices, but continues to show him more and different options.

 

“Look, I appreciate your help, but, I’m kind of in a hurry. Can I just go ahead and order what I’ve already picked?” Steve asks impatiently.

 

She gives him an odd look. “You said this is for your wedding, right?”

 

“Yeah, that’s right.”

 

“Are you sure you wouldn’t like to come back when you have more time?” she questions him. “This isn’t generally a decision that you want to rush…”

 

“I’m sure they’ll be fine,” Steve assures her, glancing out the window and seeing Danny already standing by the Camaro with their lunch. _Shit!_ And now Danny’s looking around for him and Steve can see his face of frustrated impatience.  _Shit, shit!_

 

By the time she writes everything up and Steve pays for it, he’s been in the store for 25 minutes and Danny’s been waiting for him for 10. He makes his way to the front of the store, but it’s going to be hard to get out of here without Danny noticing. He takes a couple of steps back toward the counter.   “Hey, do you have a back door I can use?” he asks the clerk.

 

“I’m sorry, that part off the store is limits to the public,” she answers him a little tersely.

 

Maybe he shouldn’t have been so snappy at her when he was trying to rush her along.

 

Steve walks back to the front door and again spies Danny standing next to the Camaro, still looking around for him. He ducks back, peeking out the window, waiting for Danny to turn the other way so he can slip out the door without his partner being any the wiser. After a moment, Danny finally turns and Steve yanks open the door, remembering too late that there are some bells hanging on it.

 

The clatter of the bells banging against the moving door makes Danny turn back just as Steve steps out onto the sidewalk. Dammit! Oh well, there’s nothing to be done about it now – Danny’s seen him – so he walks up to the car as casually as he can, hiding the panic inside.

 

“What the hell were you doing _in there?_ I’ve been standing out here waiting for you for 10 minutes!”

 

“Uh… It’s hot out. I went inside to cool off.”

 

Danny looks at him like he’s grown horns. “ _What?_ ”

 

“I, uh, I wanted some water, so I went in there to get some.”

 

“You went into a florist shop to get water when there are…” Danny turns his body and looks around them, “…four restaurants within 30 feet of here?”

 

“Well, it’s lunch time, Danny. The restaurants are all crowded,” he quips as he unlocks the door and slides into the Camaro.

 

Danny clambers in after him and slams the door, shooting a glare Steve’s way. “You’re behaving very strangely.”

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Steve answers, his stomach twisting in knots. “I got hot and thirsty, Danny. What’s the big deal?”

 

Danny doesn’t say anything, and Steve plays it cool, casually driving as though nothing is wrong; but Steve can feel the penetrating gaze that his partner has focused on him all the way back to the Palace. Steve keeps his exterior demeanor calm, but the longer Danny stares at him, trying to puzzle things out, the more panicked Steve becomes inside.

 

Danny still doesn’t say anything as they’re walking back up the Palace stairs to the office, but, thank God, when they get there, they see the other three at the tech table waiting for them.

 

“What’s up?” Steve asks, reading the thrum of excitement in the room. “You find something?”

 

“Maybe,” Chin answers. “I was running down family and known friends of Harley Mitchell. His brother, Jacob,” he swipes the table and Jacob Mitchell’s driver’s license appears on the big screen, “is a shift supervisor at Oahu-Pac, they’re a pineapple co-packaging company. Harley worked there for about seven weeks back in 2014, before he was fired for chronic lateness.”

 

“That fits with what we’ve heard about him from everyone else,” Danny observes.

 

“Right,” Chin continues. “And… his job when he worked there was in the warehouse, where he drove a forklift, loading pallets onto trucks.”

 

Steve uncrosses his arms and stands straight with interest. “Is there any way he could have gotten access to the forklift on New Year’s Eve?”

 

“Possibly,” Kono takes over. “Oahu-Pac was closed from Christmas Eve until January 3rd, so it’s conceivable that he could have taken his brother’s keys like he did Alison’s. They’ve got a 20-foot truck, too, so we think he could have driven the forklift into the truck and then driven the truck to the gallery.”

 

“So, if nothing else, we know Harley definitely knows how to drive a forklift,” Danny says.

 

“And he did that stint as a bus driver, so he’s got a Commercial Driver’s License and would be able to handle a big truck,” Lou adds.

 

“Okay. It’s looking more and more like we’ve got our guy here, but we still gotta figure out where the hell the painting could be. Danny, let’s go back and talk to Sean and Alison again and see if either of them has any ideas. You guys,” he gestures at the other three. “Keep working your angle. Good work.”

 

xoxoxo

 

“What’s the matter?” Steve asks Danny as they’re driving to West Side Dental to talk to Alison again. Danny’s been quiet the whole way and Steve knows that means something’s bothering him.

 

“I’m just thinking about James. I mean, here’s a guy who takes care of his mother who’s got dementia… does what he needs to do to keep her at home and out of an institution… he just seems like a decent guy. But, there’s no way Harley knows about this painting unless James told him.”

 

“Maybe Harley was at the house and overheard Sean talking to his aunt?” Steve suggests, also wanting to give James the benefit of the doubt.

 

“Maybe… but Sean said he hadn’t seen Harley for a couple of months. It seems possible that maybe Sean wouldn’t know if James was in the house and overheard him, but it seems like if Harley was there too, Sean would probably be aware of that.”

 

“Yeah…” Steve says, reluctantly agreeing.

 

xoxoxo

 

Their visits to Alison and Sean are fruitless. Alison can’t think of anyplace that Harley would hide a painting that big that someone wouldn’t notice, and Sean is still adamant that James didn’t have anything to do with it – that there was no way James would hurt him.

 

The team has better luck though, and when Steve and Danny return, Lou tells them that he paid a visit to Harley’s bother, Jacob, and he revealed that he and Harley are mostly estranged and have been since Harley blew his chance at Oahu-Pac. Jacob had stuck his neck out and gotten Harley the job, and like every other job he’s ever had, he screwed it up. Jacob himself had fired Harley and they hadn’t really spoken since. Apparently, the brothers had been living together at the time and after Jacob fired Harley, Harley moved out, but never returned the key to the house.

 

What’s more, since Oahu-Pac was closed for ten days over the holidays, Jacob went to Australia to visit a friend. When he left, he left his keyring with his car and work keys where he always did - in the dish inside the front door.

 

By the time Lou finishes reporting all of that, every one of them is convinced Harley is their guy, but they’re still trying to figure out what role James played in the whole thing, and _where the hell is the painting?_

 

HPD is still watching all three of their early suspects, so Steve calls Duke and tells him to go ahead and release the car on Bryce Cole, and then they make a plan for the next day; they’ll pick up both Harley and James in the morning and see if one of them will crack.

 

xoxoxo

 

That evening, they’re sitting in the living room again; Steve is sitting sideways, leaning against the arm of the couch, and Danny is sitting in between his legs, leaning against Steve’s chest. They’re watching ‘Modern Family’ which Grace has gotten them addicted to – they both love it but neither has actually voiced that out loud and aren’t likely to. They usually watch it on Wednesday nights, but last night they got a little… distracted… so they’re watching the recorded episode.

 

At the commercial break, Steve stretches a little. “You know, this is the fourth night in a row we’ve actually sat down together on this couch?

 

“I’m not sure last night really counts,” Danny mumbles absently, pulling his computer over from the coffee table focusing on his spreadsheet for the three-minute break.

 

“Well… close enough. I mean, how often does this actually happen?”

 

“Not very…” Danny mumbles, poking keys on his computer.

 

“It’s kinda nice,” Steve continues. “Quiet… no kids interrupting…”

 

Steve realizes his mistake an instant before he feels Danny stiffen under his arm, but before he can even open his mouth to undo it, Danny is pulling away from him, sitting up and turning around.

 

“Look, I know the kids are probably more of a commitment than you ever thought you were getting into –“

 

“ _NO_ , Danny. No, that’s not at all what I meant – “

 

“It’s fine. I mean, I get it –“

 

“Danny, I didn’t –“

 

“- Two kids is a lot and Charlie’s sick and –“

 

“Danny, _stop!_ ”

 

“No,” Danny stands abruptly, his laptop fortunately falling onto the couch. “Listen to me, Steve. There’s no doubt about what my future looks like and it’s all about kids and hospitals and teenagers. You didn’t sign up for this and it’s not like we’re married or anything so if you want to –“

 

Steve stands just as abruptly as Danny had and his partner takes a step back because Steve is suddenly looming over him. He grabs Danny’s arm with one hand and the other covers Danny’s mouth.

 

“Please, Danny… _PLEASE_ don’t finish that sentence. Listen to me… just… _listen to me_ , okay?”

 

Danny stares at him, looking hurt and wounded, but he doesn’t try to say anything else when Steve takes his hand away.

 

“I did _not_ mean that I don’t love having the kids around. I do. I love those kids like they’re my own Danny, and nothing – and I mean _nothing_ – would make me happier than to have them here every day, all the time. What just came out of my mouth was stupid and I didn’t mean it the way it sounded. I didn’t mean I don’t want the kids around. I just meant… it’s nice to just sit here with you – the two of us. That’s _all_ I meant – that I like being with you… please don’t read more into it than that.”

 

Danny stares at him for a moment longer then his eyes jerk nervously to the side. “It’s true though, you know… we’re not married, so if it ever gets to be too much, it’s really okay…”

 

“Danny,” Steve says, a fierceness in his voice that betrays the emotion behind his words, “it will _never_ get to be too much, because it will _never_ be enough.”

 

Danny takes that in for a few seconds and then seems to unwind before Steve’s eyes, and when he does, Steve pulls him into a tight embrace. After a split second, Danny lifts his arms and squeezes back.

 

Stupid, _stupid!_ Steve chides himself mentally. Of all the stupid things to say – knowing that Danny’s greatest fears and insecurities are all about his kids. Well… at least in nine days, Danny won’t ever have cause to doubt Steve’s commitment again.

 

xoxoxo

 

~~Order flowers~~

 

 


	22. Hiding their relationship

 

_ Friday, January 22nd _

 

When Steve and Danny roll up to the Palace the next morning, Duke meets them on the front steps.

 

“What’s up, Duke?” Steve asks as they approach.

 

“James and Sean Kamihana came in to HPD at 6:00am this morning. Said James wanted to turn himself in.”

 

Steve and Danny exchange a look.

 

“Did he say what for?” Danny asks him.

 

“Yeah. He said he helped steal the painting from Fouche’s gallery. Said he wanted to talk to you two, so I brought them here.”

 

“Where are they now?” Steve asks.

 

“They’re up in the offices. Lou was there and I left a couple of officers with them.”

 

Steve clasps Duke’s arm as they move past him. “Thanks, Duke,” Steve calls, eager to get at Kamihana.

 

xoxoxo

 

“I did it,” James Kamihana confesses as soon as Steve and Danny walk into the bullpen. Sean and James are sitting at the conference table, and Lou and two uniformed officers are standing nearby.

 

“Did what exactly?” Danny asks, to clarify.

 

“I helped Harley Mitchell steal the painting. Harley's a..."

 

"Yeah, we know who Harley is. And we know about his girlfriend who works at the dental clinic and his brother who has access to a forklift," Steve tells him.

 

James gapes at them in surprise and then looks at Sean.  "Did you know they knew?" he asks his cousin.

 

Sean just shakes his head, looking surprised himself.

 

James looks back at Steve and Danny.  "I… I didn’t really want to but Harley talked me into it.”

 

“Okay. Let’s start at the beginning, James. How did you know about the painting?” Danny asks.

 

“I overheard Sean telling my mom about it one day about a month or so ago. I forgot my lunch and came back in the kitchen door to grab it and Sean was in the living room with Mom. Sean didn’t know I was there and he didn’t know I heard him.”

 

Steve glances at Sean and then turns back to James. “And Harley?”

 

“I just… I mentioned it to him one night when we were out having a beer. It was just… idle conversation. But then a couple days later, he came back to me with this scheme to steal it.”

 

“And you just went along with it…?”

 

“I didn’t want to, but Harley can be very convincing when he wants to be,” James looks down in embarrassment. “He had this whole plan… about how he could get the gas from Alison’s clinic, and a forklift and truck from Oahu-Pac. He rented scuba gear, so we'd be able to breathe," he looks guiltily at Sean.  "He got us burner phones… he had it all thought out…”

 

“And you didn’t think maybe it was a bad idea?” Lou inserts.

 

“Yeah, I did,” he says with regret. “But then I was thinking about my mom, you know? How between the two of us, Sean and I can hardly afford to take care of her and keep her at home. I guess I just thought maybe I could use the money to hire a full-time nurse for her. Someone to really take care of her rather than us having to leave her alone sometimes.  It seemed like maybe a good plan...”

 

“What about the part where Sean almost dies and ends up in the hospital for a couple of weeks. Did Harley plan that, too?” Steve asks, not feeling particularly sympathetic.

 

“James never meant for that happen,” Sean cuts in.

 

James shakes his head vigorously. “I didn’t! I never would have agreed to any of it if I thought Sean would have gotten hurt, I swear,” his plea is easily read in his eyes. “I looked up the effects of nitrous oxide and it seemed like it would be okay,” his voice trails off.

 

“You didn’t do your research very well, did you?” Lou asks, his words angry and clipped. “He could have died, he could have had permanent brain damage! Not to mention the fact that you messed with his job and his reputation.”

 

“Look, James and I have talked about all of this, and I know he didn’t mean to hurt me,” Sean says. “He came to me last night and told me what he and Harley did and that he wanted to turn himself in. Since this was all Harley’s idea and James is here now, we want to know if maybe he can get some kind of deal or something.”

 

“It’s a little premature to be talking about deals, but we’ll see. I guess a lot of that will depend on whether we get that painting back undamaged," Steve tells them.  "Where is it?”

 

James flicks his eyes to all three of them. “I don’t know,” he answers.

 

“Come on, James! You can’t expect us to believe that. Where did you and Harley hide the painting?” Steve presses him.

 

“I swear to God, I don’t know! After we stole it, Harley dropped me a few blocks from my house where I had left my car and then drove the truck away. We had agreed that we wouldn’t talk about it at all unless we were completely alone, driving in my car or his, and if there was an emergency, we’d call each other on the burner phones to arrange for one of us to pick the other up. But then, after I found out about Sean, I met him and told him I wanted to return it, but he refused. So I told him I didn’t want anything to do with it, then, and not to contact me about it anymore. I swear to God, I don’t know where he hid it.”

 

“Well do you have any ideas? Where could he possibly hide something that big, that he would have access to but no one else would find it?” Steve presses.

 

“I honestly don’t know. I’ve thought about it a lot, but I can’t come up with anything.”

 

“Okay, what’s Harley’s plan for the painting? Who’s he going to sell it to?” Danny jumps in.

 

“We didn’t know that beforehand. He figured he’d be able to find a buyer… I mean, it’s worth a lot of money, right?”

 

“It’s worth hundreds of millions of dollars!” Danny answers loudly and James cringes a little. “You think there are a lot of people out there who can, what? Just write you a check?”

 

“I _don’t_ know. Harley said he’d find someone and afterward I told him I didn’t want anything to do with it anymore, so he wasn’t exactly sharing information with me anymore.”

 

Steve rolls his eyes. “You know, for a guy who helps to steal a multi-million dollar painting, you sure didn’t ask very many questions.”

 

“No, I didn’t. I never really wanted to do it, so you know… I just… didn’t ask. I didn’t want to know.”

 

Steve leans his hands on the table in front of James. “Alright… does Harley have any idea that we suspect him?”

 

“I don’t think so. I told him that you guys came to talk to me, but that you were more interested in my mom and I hadn’t told you anything. _I_ didn’t even know you were on to us until a few minutes ago.”

 

Steve stands upright again and turns to Lou. “Call HPD and tell them to let the officers that are sitting on Harley’s apartment know that we’re going to bring him in. As soon as Chin gets here, go pick him up.”

 

As though materialized by the mention of his name, Chin walks through the door. “What’s going on?” he asks, looking at James and Sean.

 

“I’ll tell you on the way,” Lou answers, pulling him back out the door.

 

xoxoxo

Ten minutes later, James is walking through the theft step-by-step when they hear someone in the hallway, “Hellooooo!?”

 

All heads turn to see a tall, blonde woman in her mid-thirties, dressed to the nines, walk into the bullpen.

 

“Oh, there you are!” she says brightly, and everyone just stares at her. “Commander… Mr. Williams…”

 

“It’s Detective,” Steve and Danny say in unison.

 

“Can we help you?” Steve asks, confused. There’s something about her that’s familiar, but he can’t quite place where he knows her from.

 

“So this is 5-0? I think it’s so sweet that the two of you _work_ together, too,” she says with more than a hint of suggestion in her voice.

 

Steve and Danny look at each other uncomfortably and Steve darts a quick glance at Sean and James behind them. They don’t hide their relationship, but they definitely don’t advertise it either – especially in the middle of questioning a suspect.

 

“I mean, isn’t it hard not to have a little… separation?” she goes on. “Working together all day and -”

 

As soon as she started that sentence, Steve could see where it was going, and, okay, that’s quite enough. They need to shut this woman up, _now_. Steve’s about to jump in and say _something_ just to stop her mouth from moving when he hears Danny.

 

“- Colette?” he sounds unsure.

 

She stops and looks at him quizzically. “Well…yes,” she answers, as though that was obvious.

 

Jesus, it’s one of those damn PTA women… Steve turns his head slightly and murmurs in Danny’s ear, “Danny, get her the hell out of here,” and then turns his back to her and faces James and Sean again.

 

Danny rushes over to her and takes her not-completely gently by the elbow, urging her swiftly out of the bullpen. Steve can hear both of their muffled voices as he drags her further and further away but can’t make out what they’re saying.

 

Steve clears his throat. “Sorry about that, she’s a little… troubled. Anyway, James, continue please. You were telling us how you and Harley broke through the wall…”

 

A moment later, Danny comes back in – alone - his face flushed and angry, but he quickly shifts gears and they continue the interrogation.

 

Twenty minutes later, Lou calls to tell them that Harley slipped their net and is in the wind.

 

xoxoxo

 

“What the hell was all that about today when that woman came into the office,” Steve finally has a chance to ask Danny, about twelve hours later. They spent the rest of the day talking more to James and then Alison and Harley’s brother, Jacob, trying to get any ideas about where he might run to. Unfortunately, all of them said that Harley is a great outdoorsman, and that he often disappears by himself for days on end into one of the various forest reserves on the island. At 11:00 pm, they finally gave up the search for the day and headed home.

 

Danny is stirring scrambled eggs on the stove – a quick meal before they both collapse – and he stops and looks at Steve for a couple of seconds before he remembers the encounter from earlier in the day. “Oh, you mean Colette.”

 

“Yeah, whatever, Colette. What the hell was she doing there?” Those women were going to be Steve’s downfall!

 

Danny looks apologetic. “Look, I’m really sorry about that. She told me that Kelly had assigned her to be my ‘Girl Friday’ for the gala next week, so she thought she’d just come by and see if there was anything she could do.”

 

Steve knows it’s his fault that Colette showed up at the Palace that day, since she’d have no reason to be Danny’s ‘Girl Friday’ if it weren’t for the whole wedding thing. But Steve’s not above letting Danny take the blame if it keeps him from thinking any more closely about it.

 

“That was awkward as hell,” Steve says, twirling a water bottle on the counter, still feeling uncomfortable about the exchange in the office in front of their suspect and victim.

 

“I know, I’m sorry,” Danny apologizes again as he dishes the eggs onto two plates and sets them on the island.  

 

They eat in silence, both of them inhaling their food quickly; they haven’t eaten since breakfast. After a minute, a thought occurs to Steve and he looks up at Danny. “You know, it’s not that I don’t want people to know about us…”

 

Danny shakes his head to stop him. “I know, and I completely agree with you, Steven. The office is not the place to be advertising our relationship. I have no problem at all with keeping a firm line between professional and personal. Like I said, I’m really sorry it happened and I can promise you, that woman is _never_ going to poke her face into our office again.”

 

Steve grins at him. “Did you tear her a new one?”

 

“I would never be so crass as to say that… but, I may have strongly suggested that the only time I would ever expect to see her there again, would be if she was wearing handcuffs,” he grins back at his partner.

 

Danny picks up both of their plates and takes them over to the sink. “I’m beat. I’m going to hit the shower and go to bed. You coming?”

 

“I’m gonna lock up. I’ll be right behind ya.”

 

Danny just grunts his reply and disappears out of the kitchen.

 

As soon as Danny’s gone, Steve opens the ‘notes’ on his phone and types in one item, but he doesn’t quite think he can cross this one off just yet.

 

xoxoxo

 

Get those women under control!

 

   


	23. being obvious

 

_ Saturday, January 23rd _

 

Steve is awoken on Saturday morning by his cellphone dinging an alert that he has a text message and he reaches over to grab it. Seeing the text is from Kenji, Steve slips out of bed and into the bathroom. The jeweler has sent word that the rings Steve ordered have arrived and he inquires whether Steve is available to come into the shop ASAP to discuss engraving; Kenji needs to know what Steve would like engraved on the inside of each ring and what font should be used.

 

Steve looks at the time and then peers back into the bedroom to check that Danny is still asleep. It’s still fairly early (8:15) and after their late night last night, Steve’s inclined not to wake Danny up. HPD is out patrolling as many forest reserve roads as they can, looking for any signs of Harley or his car. Steve and Danny had paid Jacob Mitchell a visit Friday evening and asked him to please be on the lookout for his brother, especially since they believe that Harley may try to get Jacob’s keys again when and if he finally tries to move the painting. HPD puts some men on Jacob’s house as well, in case Jacob decides he doesn’t want to turn his brother in if he hears from him. They’ve also touched base with Barry Burns again and Kamekona and a few other CIs, for any word that someone’s got a big painting to move. There’s not much left to do now but wait until Harley shows himself.

 

Steve responds to Kenji that he’ll be there within an hour, then quietly grabs some clothes from the bedroom and eases the door closed behind himself before he goes downstairs. He brews a pot of coffee so it will already be made when Danny stumbles into the kitchen (whenever that will be) and tapes a note to the coffee pot handle so Danny won’t miss it. He waits for the coffee to finish so he can take some to go and then grabs his truck keys and heads to the jewelry store.

 

“Commander McGarrett,” Kenji greets him. “Thank you for coming so promptly.”

 

“No problem, Kenji. So, what do we need to do?”

 

Kenji gives Steve a form on which to print the desired engraving - which Steve does with great care – and then shows him a page with fifteen different fonts, and Steve chooses a simple, classic script.

 

“So I can pick these up by Friday?” Steve seeks to confirm.

 

“Yes, yes. I should be able to have the engraving done by Wednesday, if you like.”

 

“Okay, I’ll probably still pick them up on Friday, though.”

 

“And what about the other ring? Do you want something engraved in it?” Kenji asks him.

 

“Um, I guess we’ll just leave that blank for now, and later, if Danny wants to engrave it, we can come back – is that okay?”

 

“Of course, Commander. Of course… so the wedding is still a surprise, then?” he inquires with a twinkle in his eye.

 

Steve grins. “So far. There’ve been a few close calls, but I don’t think Danny has a clue.”

 

xoxoxo

 

When Steve pulls into the driveway, he sees three large boxes stacked near the front door, and when he gets close, he sees that they are the hurricane candles he ordered for the tables. Shit! He’d forgotten about those – he should have had them shipped to Kono or something. Luckily Danny is nowhere to be seen, so he quickly opens the garage door and sticks them in the trunk of his dad’s Marquis.

 

He waits for his racing heart to calm a little and then goes inside. “Danny!?” he yells, wondering where his partner could be that he missed someone delivering the boxes. He doesn’t get any answer, so he walks to the back of the house, and, sure enough, Danny is in the back yard, sitting in one of the chairs, fiddling with his computer. Steve trots upstairs and puts on his board shorts and heads outside to join him.

 

“Hey,” Steve greets him as he sits in ‘his’ chair.

 

“Hey. Anything new on Harley?”

 

Steve’s note had said that Steve was running into the office to check on things. “No. No sign of him so far.” He had checked in with Duke by phone, of course; he just didn’t actually go into the office.

 

Danny grunts in response.

 

“What are you working on?” Steve asks him, trying to peer over Danny’s shoulder at his computer screen, but the glare from the sun is too bright to make anything out from his angle.

 

“Just sorting through the RSVPs…” Danny tells him distractedly.

 

“Can you put it aside for a little while?” Steve asks him.

 

“Why?” Danny gives him a suspicious look.

 

“Look, it’s been a busy couple of weeks, all we can do with this case right now is wait, and you’ve been driving yourself crazy with this gala planning. I just thought maybe we could relax today… and then tonight we can work on your seating arrangement. Whaddaya say?”

 

“Sorry… can’t,” Danny stands up. “I have to start working on the programs for this damn thing,” he says as he starts to head toward the house.

 

“Oh, come on, Danno. That can wait a little while can’t it?” Steve catches up with Danny and wraps his arms around him from behind, pinning Danny’s arms to his side, and nuzzling his neck.

 

Surprisingly, Danny just sighs and seem to melt into Steve’s embrace.

 

A moment later they hear, “Uh, hi guys,” as Kono appears from around the side of the house with a small surfboard under her arm.

 

“Hey Kono,” Steve answers at the same time that Danny says, “Hi.”

 

Steve doesn’t release Danny though, and instead hooks his chin over Danny’s shoulder and continues to hold onto his partner, swaying a little.

 

“Steve…” Danny says, sounding slightly uncomfortable.

 

“Hmmm?” he answers, ignoring Danny’s clear intent, and kissing his neck some more.

 

“Wow… PDA… I think this is only the… second time I’ve seen you two like this,” Kono says, laughing now.

 

And it’s true. There have really only been a handful of times that Steve can remember kissing Danny in front of their teammates.

 

“Steven…” Danny says, even more pointedly now.

 

“Relax, Danny. We’re in our own yard, and it’s just Kono.”

 

Danny jerks his arms up quickly, breaking Steve’s hold, then turns around and pulls Steve into a searing kiss. After a moment, he breaks away and Steve just gapes at him, Kono giggling in the background. “I know, Steven. I don’t mind Kono seeing us, but the McGarrett straightjacket isn’t the most comfortable thing…”

 

“Could you two be any cuter?” Kono asks, and Steve actually blushes.

 

“So, Kono,” Danny clearly is aiming to change the subject. “Is that what I think it is?”

 

“You know it, brah,” she answers, her dimples lighting up her smile.

 

Three years ago, Kono had pulled one of her many old surfboards out of her garage and given it to Danny to give to Grace, complete in a newly refinished pink and a small monkey stenciled on it. Then, a few weeks ago, when Danny had casually mentioned to her that Charlie loved to have Grace push him around on her board, Kono had offered to go to her parents’ house and pull out an even older, and smaller surfboard for the little boy.

 

She handed Danny the petite board, newly refinished in blue and with a small silhouette of a cowboy on a bucking bronco stenciled on the top.

 

“Kono, it’s perfect. Thank you, sweetheart,” he pulls her into a tight embrace. “He’s gonna love this.”

 

“Anything for my little man,” she answers. “He’s back tomorrow, right? Will you give it to him then?”

 

“I’ll tell you what,” Danny answers. “Why don’t you come by tomorrow afternoon and give it to him yourself?”

 

“Aw, I’d love to Danny. Thanks,” she beams at him.

 

“Here… I’ll put it in the garage for now,” Steve offers. “Kono, come on, I’ll show you where I put it and then you can grab it when you get here tomorrow.”

 

“Uh, okay,” she shrugs and follows after Steve who is bee-lining around the side of the house already.

 

When Kono gets to the garage, Steve pulls her inside and whispers, “Kono… I need a favor.”

 

“Sure, Steve. What’s up?”

 

He pulls her over to the Marquis and opens the trunk, revealing the boxes of hurricane candles. “Can you take these and store them at your house until next Saturday? They’re candles for the tables.”

 

“Sure…”

 

“Oh SHIT!” Steve yelps, looking at Kono with wide eyes.

 

“What? What is it?”

 

“I need tables for the party after the wedding! I forgot to reserve some!”

 

“How many do you need?”

 

“Four, I guess, if they’re 8-person tables. Or five, if they’re 6-person tables. Plus, I guess one or two more for food and drinks… SHIT, I gotta figure out what to do about drinks for this thing…” Steve is realizing how many details he still hasn’t worked out yet.

 

“Okay, don’t panic. I’m sure you can get a few tables somewhere. I’ll talk to Kamekona, see if he can help.”

 

“Oh, God, Kono… you’re a lifesaver!” he pulls her into a grateful hug.

 

"I assume you'll need chairs to go with the tables?" she ask, trying not to smile at Steve's franticness. 

 

"Oh,God... yeah right... chairs, too!"

 

“I think it’s so sweet, what you’re doing, Steve. I don’t care what the guys say, I think Danny’s gonna love it,” she reassures him. “And don’t worry about the drinks. I’ll get Chin and Lou to take care of those.”

 

Steve looks hugely relieved at her remark. “Are you sure?”

 

“Absolutely. Now you go back and finish whatever it was you were starting when I interrupted,” she adds, and Steve feels his face heat slightly.

 

He helps her load the boxes into her car and retraces his path around to the back of the house to find Danny lying in the hammock. Steve climbs in next to him – somehow managing not to upend them both - and they spend the rest of the day happily doing nothing.

 

xoxoxo

 

After dinner, Steve is cleaning up the dishes while Danny glares at his computer screen at the kitchen island. The RSVP deadline has come and gone and 368 people are confirmed for the event, a full third of them include seating arrangement requests. Tables of eight mean that there will be 46 tables at the event and Danny needs to try to put everyone where they want to be, and just as importantly,  _not_ put them where they  _don't_ want to be.

 

“I am never going to be able to do this,” Danny groans, looking at the list.

 

“Hey, Danno, relax,” Steve reassures him as he puts the last of the dishes into the dishwasher. “It’s not that hard; you just have to think of this as an op.”

 

“An op…?” Danny asks dubiously. “Seriously, Steven? This is a gala auction not a mission! We are not trying to make incursions into enemy territory.” Danny pauses and thinks about that for a couple seconds. “On second thought, you may be on to something there.”

 

Steve’s face lights up. “Okay, so we just have to look at all of the parameters and variables, and plan accordingly.”

 

“Right,” Danny concurs. “I thought you were going to write an algorithm or something?”

 

“Well, this might be a little more complicated than I was originally thinking. I think we’re going to have to do this the old fashioned way.”

 

“What way is that exactly?”

 

“Paper schematics and pencils. Or, actually, I have a better idea… white board!”

 

Danny sticks his lower lip out and nods. “That, I can do.”

 

Steve drags his father’s old white board out of the garage into the dining room and the two of them set to work, first drawing out the 46 tables the event will require, and then painstakingly adding names to each. At first, it doesn’t seem too hard, they add names at one table, then find mutual requests and put them together. Where it gets tricky is where x couple wants to sit with y couple, and z couple requests to sit with x, but specifically requests _not_ want to sit with y.

 

After an hour of trying to make all the pieces fit, Danny’s banging his head on the table and is ready to throw in the towel. “This is like some kind of sadistic Sudoku with 46 boxes instead of 9,” Danny complains.

 

But Steve’s eyes are gleaming. “What? No, Danno, this is great. It’s one of the best games of strategy ever!”

 

“Need I remind you, Steven, that this is not a game… it is my son’s future…” Danny starts, but Steve cuts him off.

 

“Yeah, yeah, Danno, I know. Don’t worry. We’re gonna work it all out, I promise,” Steve picks up the eraser and wipes away another set of names.

 

“He promises…” Danny mumbles to no one.    

 

Three more hours later, Steve nudges Danny, who is dozing with his head pillowed on his arms on the table. “Danny… I think it’s done,” he says excitedly.

 

“Huh?” Danny answers, lifting his head and looking around, disoriented.

 

“I said, I think it’s done. I think I got it all worked out.”

 

“Really?” he stares at the whiteboard in front of him. “Are you sure?”

 

“Pretty sure. I’ve checked it three times.”

 

“Oh my God, I have never loved you more than I do right now,” Danny tells him, standing up and pulling out his phone, snapping a couple pictures of the whiteboard.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

“Making sure we don’t accidently erase this and lose it somehow,” he answers, then grabs the front of Steve’s shirt and pulls him in for a few tired kisses. “I love Steve the Science Guy,” Danny murmurs between kisses.

 

Steve huffs. “I wasn’t employing science, Danny.”

 

“I don’t care,” Danny kisses him again. “Can we go to bed now?”

 

“Come on, Danno. Let’s go put you to bed.”

 

xoxoxo

 

~~Ring engraving~~

Tables!  And chairs!  (Kono?)

Drinks for the wedding! (Lou & Chin?)

 


	24. Naked

 

_ Sunday, January 24th _

 

The sun is well up and light is streaming into the room by the time Steve and Danny wake up after two late nights in a row. They’re still just waiting for Harley to show himself, and until they get a call that he has, there’s not much for them to do.

 

It’s Sunday morning. On the Sundays that the kids are already there, the tradition is that Steve gets up and makes them pancakes. On the Sundays when the kids don’t come until later, their tradition is that they wake up and have loud, raucous sex, because they know that for the next week, they won’t be able to.

 

Danny just fucked Steve – pretzeled him, in fact – and they are both lying sated and lazy in the bed, too content to move just yet. Danny is propped up on his side, head resting on his left hand, while his right idly traces Steve’s abs. He is outlining each muscle before moving on to the next, and it’s not lost on Steve that that means he’s also kind of messing with the come cooling on Steve’s body. Steve turns his head so he can slip his tongue back into Danny’s mouth, and he hears the rush of Danny’s exhale when he does, but their kisses are shallow and sweet, not heated as before.

 

After a few minutes, Danny pulls back and eyes Steve thoughtfully. “I know what you’re up to,” he says. “It took me way longer than it should have to figure it out because I’ve been distracted by this gala, but you can stop sneaking around now.”

 

Steve freezes, panic taking hold. _Dammit!_ _So close_ … only 6 more days and he would have pulled off the surprise of a lifetime! “What’re you talking about, Danny? I’m not up to anything,” Steve says, ‘cause it’s worth a try anyway.

 

“Come on… you had to know I’d figure it out eventually…”

 

Steve looks at Danny’s smirking face and sighs in defeat. “Well, I kinda hoped you wouldn’t. What gave me away?”

 

“Well, the whole family arriving en masse, for one. That’s a little suspicious, don’t you think?”

 

“I suppose…”

 

“And all the slipping away to make phone calls to the Governor all the time. I mean, I know the guy likes to be kept in the loop, but come on… it was getting a little ridiculous.”

 

“Dammit… yeah…” Steve concedes.

 

“But really, the biggest giveaway is that you haven’t said a word about it. I mean, if you really wanted it to be a surprise, you should have at least mentioned something about it by now.”

 

“What are you talking about? If I wanted it to be a surprise, why would I say something about it? That doesn’t even make sense, Danny,” Steve argues.

 

“Oh, what? Were you seriously trying to make me believe that you just _forgot_ my 40th birthday?”

 

Steve blinks at Danny and his brain shorts out a little. _HOLY FUCKING SHIT!_ Steve _FORGOT_ Danny’s 40 th birthday, which is… _THIS FRIDAY_. Okay… okay… Steve’s mind spins… this is actually good… the op is still intact. But this is bad… he _forgot_ Danny’s 40 th birthday. Still, he can work with this…

 

“Well, I was kinda hoping I might get away with it,” he shrugs. “I tried, anyway.”

 

“Honestly, I would have expected a better strategy from a Navy SEAL,” Danny teases and gives Steve a quick kiss before slipping out of bed and walking toward the bathroom. “But don’t worry,” he calls over his shoulder. “I won’t tell everyone I figured you out – I’ll pretend to be surprised. I’ll let them continue to believe you are sneaky and clever.”

 

Steve watches Danny’s perfect, naked ass retreat behind the bathroom door, then folds his hands behind his head and smiles with satisfaction up at the ceiling. What an incredible stroke of luck! Except for that part that he did, in fact, forget Danny’s birthday. But… that’s okay. He’ll just throw together a party for Friday night – nothing fancy, just a nice dinner out somewhere for Danny’s family. Clara and Eddie can help with that once they get here. Meanwhile, ‘Operation: Wedding’ is still a go and still a surprise. Things couldn’t have worked out better.

 

xoxoxo

 

“Hey Grace, Charlie! What’s going on?” Kono yells as she appears in the back yard.

 

The kids are splashing in the water and Danny is standing ankle deep nearby.

 

“Hi Kono!” they call out in unison.

 

“Hey, Charlie. I have a surprise for you today,” Kono tells him.

 

Charlie runs from the water over to her on the shore. “What is it?” he asks excitedly.

 

“Can you close your eyes and not open them until I tell you?”

 

“Yes,” he promises, nodding his head.

 

“Okay, close them now and I’ll tell you when you can open them,” she tells him.

 

Charlie squeezes them shut as tight as he can and Kono waves Steve over from the side of the house. He creeps up carrying the tiny blue surfboard while Danny and Grace wander over too; everyone is smiling in anticipation of Charlie’s reaction.

 

“Okay, Charlie, you can open your eyes now,” Kono says, once Steve has handed her the board.

 

Charlie opens his eyes and immediately cracks an enormous smile. “Is it mine?” he asks, looking at the board and not Kono.

 

“It’s yours, buddy,” Danny tells him, rubbing his head fondly. “What do you say to Kono?”

 

“Thank you, Kono!” he shouts and gives her a big hug, then takes the surfboard as she holds it out to him.

 

“You need help with that, Cowboy?” Danny asks him as he starts to drag it toward the water.

 

“I got it,” he says with determination in his voice. He and Danny traipse on, Charlie moving slowly under his burden. “Danno, it has a cowboy on it,” the little boy grins.

 

“I know. I saw that. Pretty cool, huh?”

 

Further up the yard, Grace, Steve and Kono watch as the two of them maneuver the board into the water and Charlie climbs onto it.

 

“Is that one of your old boards, Kono?” Grace asks her.

 

“Sure is. It was my very first surfboard.”

 

“It’s really awesome of you to give it to him,” Steve tells her and gives her a quick embrace.

 

“I’m glad to have someone use it. It was just gathering dust in the garage.”

 

“I don’t think Danno’s ever going to be able to get him off of that. What do you think, Grace?”

 

“Probably not,” she agrees. “I’m gonna go get my board, too,” she says and runs off.

 

Steve and Kono stand in the yard watching the other three in the water. After a few minutes of just enjoying the sight, Steve turns to his teammate. “So, Kono, I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done to help me with this wedding.”

 

“Aw… I think it’s so sweet. I love being able to help you pull it off.”

 

“Yeah, so about that…”

 

Kono glances sideways at him. “Yeaaaaahhh?”

 

Steve rubs the back of his neck. “So, I guess, with all the worry about planning the wedding…” Steve pauses.

 

Kono just raises her eyebrows at him.

 

“I, uh… apparently forgot about Danny’s birthday…”

 

“Oh, right… that’s coming up, isn’t it?”

 

“Yeah… it’s Friday, and it’s… his 40th…” Steve is clearly feeling foolish.

 

“Oh my God, Steve…” Kono laughs. “You forgot that Danny’s 40th birthday is in five days?”

 

“I know, I know! But it’s kind of a good thing!”

 

“Oh really? How exactly are you spinning that kind of mistake into a good thing?”

 

Steve tells Kono about his conversation with Danny this morning and explains how he now needs to plan something for Friday night, too.

 

Kono looks at him skeptically. “Are you sure you’re not biting off a little more than you can chew, here?”

 

“Nah,” Steve answers with confidence. “I can get Danny’s family to plan the birthday party.”

 

Kono doesn’t look entirely convinced. “If you say so. I’m almost afraid to say this, but… if you need any more help…”

 

“You’ve done an awful lot already, Kono. I really appreciate it.”

 

She shrugs. “It’s fun, and the payoff should make it all worth it… I can’t wait to see Danny’s face on Saturday. Besides,” she adds, “it takes my mind off other things.”

 

“Yeah…” Steve starts, but before he can say anything more, she cuts him off.

 

“Oh, hey… I talked to Kamekona and you’re all set for tables. He’s got four 8-tops and one long one you can put food on. He asked if you wanted linens.”

 

“Oh, shit, I forgot about linens… I don’t know how I could have forgotten that when Danny was bitching about the linens for his party!”

 

“Don’t worry about it – I’ll get them. Do you know what color you want?”

 

“Well, I guess our color scheme is blue,” Steve tells her, somehow feeling silly even saying that.

 

“That _is_ Danny’s favorite color,” Kono observes.

 

Steve huffs. “Don’t let Danny hear you say that,” he tells her and then shares the story about Charlie commenting on Danny’s ‘sartorial choices’.”

 

Kono is laughing again when she hears Danny call out to her.

 

“Hey Kono!” Danny yells. “You wanna come out here and show this cowboy how to ride this thing?”

 

“Sure!” Kono calls back. “Later,” she says to Steve and then beelines for the water, stripping her shirt and shorts off on the way.

 

xoxoxo

 

After dinner, Danny takes Charlie upstairs to give him a bath and get him ready for bed. It’s been a long afternoon in the sun and water and he’s tired and cranky, and Danny only gets him to acquiesce to going to bed willingly if he’ll let Charlie bring the surfboard into his room for the night.

 

Steve and Grace work together to clean up the kitchen and then they go sit together on the couch where Grace pulls out her laptop and shows him more pictures of her dress. Steve, in turn, shows her photos of the flowers he picked out for her and she approves enthusiastically.

 

“Hey, Gracie, you know your dad’s birthday is coming up this week.”

 

“I know. He’s turning 40! How did he get so old?”

 

Steve squirms a little. “Forty’s not that old…” Steve will be 40 himself pretty soon, and he still feels pretty young…

 

“Oh, sorry, Uncle Steve. I don’t mean _you’re_ old,” she tries to cover her faux pas.

 

Steve sighs. “Don’t worry about it, Gracie. I guess 40 would seem pretty old to you.”

 

Grace just chews the inside of her cheek and says nothing.

 

“Anyway, your dad has maybe noticed that I’ve been sneaking around and planning something, but he thinks I’m planning a surprise party for him and that’s why all the Williamses are coming.”

 

“That’s perfect!” her face lights up.

 

“Exactly! So, do you think you could maybe work with your grandma and grandpa this week and plan something for Friday night? You know… just find a nice restaurant where we can all go out to dinner, maybe make sure there’s cake and ice cream?”

 

“Yeah, I can do that,” she says, giving him her best smile. “It’ll be fun!

 

“Thanks, Gracie. You’re the best,” he says as he wraps his elbow around her neck and pulls her in to kiss the top of her head.

 

When he lets her go, he sees she has a serious expression on her face.

 

“It’s really amazing that you’re doing this for Danno, Uncle Steve. He’s going to be so happy.”

 

“I hope so… sometimes I’m a little worried that maybe he won’t like such a big thing to be a surprise…” Steve confesses – it’s something he’s barely admitted to himself, much less said out loud before now.

 

Grace shakes her head vigorously. “Don’t be. He loves you so much… he talks about how he hopes that you guys will get married someday.”

 

“He does?” That surprises Steve a little.

 

“Yeah. I mean, he doesn’t swoon around and talk about wishing you two were married, but one time he said something about ‘when Steve and I are married’.  And then one time he asked me if I’d be okay with it.”

 

“He did?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“What, uh… what’d you say?” Steve is suddenly very nervous.

 

Grace reads his tension and rolls her eyes. “I told him I thought it would be great. And it will be. You are perfect for my dad,” she reassures him. “And I think he’s perfect for you.”

 

Steve pulls her in for another kiss. “Me, too, Gracie… me, too.”

 

xoxoxo

 

“Charlie go down okay?” Steve asks Danny when he finally makes it outside with his laptop and parks himself in his chair.

 

“Out like a light. Made me lean his surfboard up against his bed so he could reach over the side and be touching it. How did this happen? I was never going to let my children near the ocean and now my four-year-old has a surfboard!”

 

“It happened because you’re a great dad, Danny. It was great to see him so excited. And Grace, too.”

 

“Yeah,” Danny admits, smiling just a little bit. He can’t really argue that point.

 

“So, are you ready for Team Williams to arrive tomorrow?” Steve asks him as he hands over a freshly opened beer.

 

“Ready as I’ll ever be, I guess. Ma texted; they’re at the airport in Newark.”

 

“You should take the day off tomorrow. I’ll call you if anything breaks on the case, but if nothing does, you should take Charlie and spend the day with them.”

 

Danny looks aghast at Steve. “You can’t leave me alone with all of them!”

 

Steve huffs. “Danny, they’re your family… stop acting like they’re the enemy.”

 

“I know… it’s just a lot of them… all at once. And I guess, I gotta admit, I’m a little nervous.”

 

“About what, turning forty? Old man…” Steve adds for good measure.

 

Danny glares at him. “NO. Not about turning 40. I’m just kinda nervous about them meeting Charlie.”

 

Steve stares at Danny for a few seconds. _“Why?”_

 

“I don’t know, you know… He’s four years old. They’ve never met him… he wasn’t… theirs. What if…?”

 

“Danny, they’re gonna love him. They’re gonna love Charlie every bit as much as they love Grace. And you know how I know that? I know because they raised you and they are Williamses, and Williamses have more capacity to love than any family I’ve ever known. So just relax and enjoy it, would you?”

 

“Yeah, okay. But you’ll at least come to the airport with me, won’t you? Trying to herd ten Williamses though Honolulu airport, to baggage claim and to the rental cars is at least a two-man job.”

 

“Sure. I’ll come with you. Now, what’s on the agenda for gala planning tonight?” Steve gestures toward Danny’s computer.

 

“Tonight… I have to write the program,” Danny answers, booting up the machine.

 

Huh. The program. Steve hadn’t thought about having a program, but a lot of weddings he’s been to have. He turns it over in his mind for a moment and then decides, nah… the wedding is small, there won’t be any groomsmen or ushers or music. They don’t need a program.

 

Within a minute, Danny is fully engrossed in his task, so Steve takes out his phone - careful to tilt the screen so Danny won’t be able to read it if he looks over - and crosses off a couple of items.  

 

xoxoxo

 

 

~~Tables~~

~~Linens~~

~~Program?~~ \- No

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello to those of you reading this daily (and thanks for that, by the way). I just wanted to give you a heads-up that it's looking like I won't likely be able to update this again for a couple days, at least. I'm out of town and tied up with a lot of family stuff, so I won't have much, if any, time to write for a few days. Sorry about that... I'll try to get back on track asap.


	25. On vacation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Look at that! I surprised myself and got something written! No promises about tomorrow though...
> 
> Thanks KippyVee for the super fast turn-around of this chapter!

 

_ Monday, January 25th _

 

Monday morning, Steve and Danny take Grace to school, then head to the office – Charlie in tow – to check if there’s anything new on Harley’s whereabouts. Charlie plays a game on Danny’s computer while the team goes over the maps of the areas where searchers have covered. The problem is, there are many unpaved, unnamed roads throughout the forest reserves, and thousands of miles of trails, so Harley could easily double back around and move his car periodically – possibly to an area HPD has already searched and crossed off their list. It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack, and they all know they’re more likely to catch Harley when he emerges and tries to move the painting, but they decide to keep some limited patrols looking anyway, if for no other reason than to keep the pressure on.

 

At 10:30, Steve, Danny and Charlie leave for the airport, and Steve doesn’t want to admit it, but he’s pretty damn nervous. He’s only ever met Clara and Eddie; and really, he barely met Eddie. He’s talked to them on the phone, and waved hello when Danny has skyped with his sisters, but he doesn’t _know_ them. And soon there will be so many of them in one place at one time, and if they’re anything like Danny, they’ll be loud and boisterous and… it’s just a little overwhelming and intimidating to even think about.

 

Sure enough, By 11:30, there are a dozen Williamses laughing and yelling and hugging each other near the baggage claim of Honolulu International Airport, and Steve is standing just outside the tight circle, hoping to sort of melt into the background. The family is oohing and aahing over Charlie and he’s clinging to Danny with wide eyes, a little unsure of what this all means. Steve is sympathetic.

 

“Steven,” he hears Clara call. “You come over here and let me give you a hug!”

 

Steve complies and then there are more hugs, and teasing from Danny’s sisters, and Steve’s getting a little panicked that someone might say something about the wedding, but they all somehow manage not to blow the secret.

 

When they get the rental cars squared away, Steve manages to maneuver things so that Danny has the Camaro full of kids (Charlie, of course, and his two nieces and a nephew), while Steve drives Clara and Eddie’s rental with the two of them and Stephanie and her husband; Stella and her husband ride with Eric, who also came out to greet them.

 

Once they are in the secure environment of the car, Steve brings up the wedding plans and fills them in about Danny’s new surprise 40th birthday party.

 

“I was wondering if you were planning something for that,” Clara mentions.

 

“Uh, yeah. To be honest, with everything else going on, I sort of forgot about it, but it’s perfect really, because Danny thinks that’s why you all came out here this week.”

 

“Oh, that is serendipitous.” Clara comments. “But we _should_ do something to celebrate Danny’s birthday, too.”

 

“Yeah, actually, I’m glad you said that, Clara. I was hoping maybe you guys could put together a little surprise party on Friday for Danny. And Grace wants to help, too.”

 

“So a surprise party on Friday and a surprise wedding on Saturday? How exactly do you plan to get my brother to cooperate with all of this?” Stephanie wonders. “What if he doesn’t want to go along with things?”

 

“Well, we’ll be fine for the birthday party on Friday because Danny thinks he knows that that’s what I’ve been planning, so he said he’ll go along with everything and act surprised,” Steve flicks her a glance in the rearview mirror. “And on Saturday, he’d be needing to leave to go to the school event at the same time as we’ll need to leave to go to the wedding, so I’ll drive, and instead of taking him to Paradise Lost, I’ll just drive us to the overlook instead.”

 

“Oh my God, he’s going to freak out. Can I ride in the car with you… _PLEASE!_ I _really_ wanna see that!” Stephanie squeals.

 

Steve shifts uneasily. He only met Stephanie a half-hour ago, and her glee at the idea of Danny’s freak out is making him a little nervous.

 

Clara chimes in before Steve can answer her. “Oh, stop it, Stephanie. Danny will be thrilled – once he finds out where he’s going. And you cannot ride with them to their wedding,” she says with a mother’s finality.

 

Steve takes the drive-time to the hotel to fill them in on most of the rest of the wedding details, and they sketch out a rough plan for a ‘surprise’ birthday party on Friday. By the time they get to the Ala Moana Hotel (where Steve has booked rooms for them since their house is full-up with the kids and Eric’s only got a studio apartment) more of the plans are in place and Steve is feeling pretty confident.

 

He leaves a slightly desperate-looking Danny with his family and heads back to the Palace to check in, but he works a short day and leaves at 3:00 to pick up Grace. The two of them make a grocery run and head back to the house where they’re going to throw some food on the grill for everyone for dinner.

 

Danny and the rest of the family all arrive at about 4:00 and everyone pitches in to get food on the table. By 6:00 everyone’s pretty tired out after a day of traveling and things have settled into a lazy evening clustered around the beach.

 

“Danno, can I get my surfboard?” Charlie asks, running up to where Steve and Danny and his sisters are standing.

 

“I’ll get it, Buddy,” Steve volunteers, and Charlie smiles and runs back down to the water where his sister and cousins are laughing and splashing around.

 

Steve peels away from the group and trots inside and up to Charlie’s room to get the board from where he insisted on sleeping with it last night. As he’s walking back out of the bedroom, he is startled by Stella and Stephanie who he never even heard behind him. Stella gently presses her hand to his chest and they push him back into Charlie’s bedroom and close the door.

 

“You know what this is?” Stella says, arching an eyebrow at him.

 

“Uh, I think I can guess…” Steve swallows hard, recognizing the threatening shovel talk when he sees it.

 

“Okay, so I know Danny was with a guy for a while in college…”

 

“He _was_?!” Steph interrupts, looking in surprise at her sister.

 

Stella rolls her eyes. “Yes, he was. For like, his whole junior year. Where the hell were you?”

 

“Did mom and dad know?” Stephanie queries.

 

“Of course not!” she says to Stephanie who looks dazed, and then turns back to Steve. “ _Anyway_ , I know this isn’t some strange aberration for my brother, which my father seems to think, but what I want to know is, are you in this for real?”

 

“For real? Do you mean, am I really gay?” Steve asks nonplussed.

 

“I suppose that’s part of it, but that’s not what I’m really asking.”

 

“Look,” Stephanie steps in. “I know we all kind of yell a lot and give each other a hard time, but Danny is important to us.” Her voice softens quite a bit as she continues. “He’s been through a hell of a lot in the last several years, and we just want to make sure you’re in it for the long haul and you’re not going to take off on him like Rachel did and crush his heart again.”

 

“I swear to God, I am in this for the long haul,” Steve manages to say, feeling more than a little intimidated by these two petite blonde forces of nature.

 

They both stare at him speculatively, trying to decide if they believe him or not, and then after a minute of highly uncomfortable silence, they glance at each other and seem to come to some sort of unspoken agreement.

 

“Just make sure you don’t hurt him, or we will be all up in your face for real,” Stella threatens.

 

Steve just nods his head jerkily, and they both disappear out of the room.

 

“I can’t believe you never told me that Danny was with another guy before,” he hears Stephanie hiss at her sister as they retreat down the stairs.

 

It’s not until he can no longer hear their retreating voices that he lets out the breath he’s been holding.

 

xoxoxo

 

Later in the evening, Steve gets a moment alone and is hovering near the trees by the water, trying to stay out of the fray and collect himself after a highly chaotic evening. McGarrett gatherings were never like this and he’s starting to understand why Danny was so wound up about his family coming. The energy and the noise have been a little overwhelming. Steve’s never had a group of strangers embrace him so readily before, and it’s pretty startling. The Williams family has been more or less acting as though Steve has always been a part of their clan, and it’s a strange sensation for someone who grew up with hardly any family at all. Yet, it’s been really wonderful, too – aside from the talking to he received from Danny’s sisters earlier – but even they have been as friendly as ever since then.

 

Danny has taken Charlie up to get him ready for bed and Steve takes a quiet moment to open his phone and scroll through his to-do list. He starts a little when he finds something on the list that he hasn’t gotten to yet.

 

“What’s that you’re looking at?” Eddie asks him, approaching from the house.

 

“Uh, I was just realizing that I haven’t gotten a photographer to take pictures for the wedding yet,” Steve says, opening the browser on the phone.

 

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Eddie say, clapping him on the back. “Brian brought his camera and he’s a pretty good photographer.”

 

Steve had noticed Stephanie’s husband, Brian, with his camera earlier, taking pictures of the kids playing in the waves.

 

“Do you think he’d be willing to?” Steve asks hopefully.

 

“Of course!” Eddie reassures him. “Hey, Brian!” he calls the younger man over.

 

Brian ambles over, camera around his neck. “Steve needs someone to take pictures for the wedding. You think you could do that?” Eddie asks him.

 

“Sure! I’d be happy to,” Brian answers, seemingly pleased to be asked.

 

“Thanks, Brian. I really appreciate that. Everything’s been so rushed, I forgot to book someone,” Steve tells him.

 

“Hey, no problem. It’d be fun.”

 

“God, thank you so much,” Steve extends his hand and Brian takes it, shaking happily.

 

“See, there you go,” Eddie says, then turns directly to Steve. “Hey, how about you show me that old car of your dad’s?”

 

“Um, okay… sure,” Steve answers and Brian leaves to go take more pictures of the kids.

 

They make their way to the garage where Eddie starts to fidget, picking up tools and putting them down without seeming to look at them. Steve starts getting nervous.

 

“Steve,” Eddie starts and then stops, and Steve’s pretty sure he knows what’s coming, given what Stella had said earlier.

 

“Yes, Sir?” Steve finally prompts him.

 

Eddie rubs the back of his neck nervously. “I was hoping to have a chance to talk to you…”

 

“I’m listening, Sir,” Steve answers, unconsciously standing erect at parade rest.

 

“Oh, stop with the sir, stuff… Just call me Eddie, please.”

 

“Okay… Eddie,” Steve says and relaxes his stance a little.

 

“You know, the young kids tell me that these days that people are ‘gender-fluid’,” he sounds mystified as he darts a glance at Steve. “Have you ever heard that term?” he seems genuinely curious.

 

“Yes, I’ve heard that,” Steve nods.

 

Eddie shakes his head. “Honestly, the stuff the younger generation comes up with…” he clears his throat nervously. “Anyway, I gotta tell you… this, uh, this sudden change of Danny’s has sort of thrown me for a bit of a loop.”

 

Steve nods his head. “I can understand that, Sir… Eddie.”

 

“I mean, Danny always liked the girls… he never was with guys before you.”

 

Steve knows that Danny experimented in college – with Ricky Monroe – and that they were together for months, but as much as he’d like to tell Eddie that, he knows that’s Danny’s information to share, not his.

 

When Steve doesn’t say anything, Eddie continues. “And I can’t help wondering if all the… pressure from the last year… after losing Matty and the terrible thing that happened to him when he got hurt so badly last spring, and then finding out about Charlie… I just wonder if maybe Danny… isn’t quite himself these days… you know?”

 

Steve feels his face heat and he takes a calming breath. He tries to remind himself that of course, this would be a normal reaction for a parent who suddenly was told by his 39-year-old son that he is in a gay relationship when they had no idea that he might have in the past. But still, Steve feels a need to defend their relationship; to make Eddie understand that this isn’t some anomaly that Danny is going to change his mind about.

 

Steve clears his throat and chooses his words carefully. “Well, Sir. I understand your questions and even your concerns. You’re right, Danny has had a rough couple of years. But I want to point out that I’ve been there with Danny every day of it. And, Sir, just so you know, Danny and I started seeing each other last December, months before the incident where Danny was hurt, and long before he found out about Charlie.”

 

Eddie looks surprised at that. “I didn’t know. He… he didn’t tell us until last summer.”

 

“Look. I understand our relationship is… not necessarily what you might have expected from your son. But we’re not rushing into this. I’ve known Danny for six years – worked with him day-in and day-out. Honestly, Danny and I have been working toward this since the day we met, and this… this just feels completely right and natural, to both of us, I believe. I know you’re worried about your son, but I don’t think you need to be. I’m pretty sure Danny and I know each other – and ourselves - well enough to be certain that this is not just some middle-aged sexual identity crisis – for either of us,” Steve says, pointedly looking Eddie in the eyes.

 

Eddie seems to startle a little at that, and picks up one of the wrenches on the workbench and starts to fiddle with it. After a moment, he sets it carefully back down and looks back up at Steve.

 

“All right, Son. I’ll take your word on that. Just, please… be sure that this is what you want. Because I know my boy, and I can see that this is what he thinks he wants, and I don’t want him to be hurt again. God knows that boy has seen enough pain for one lifetime.”

 

“Sir… Eddie… I’d rather cut off my right arm than hurt your son. I swear to you, I will work every day to make sure he’s happy.”

 

Eddie gives him a penetrating look and Steve can feel the sweat start to trickle down his neck.

 

“See that you do,” he says, gives one sharp nod of his head, and leaves Steve standing alone in the garage to contemplate the encounter.

 

xoxoxo

 

“Your sisters cornered me tonight,” Steve tells Danny as they’re lying in bed. “And then a couple hours later, your dad did, too.”

 

“They did?” Danny turns to look at Steve. “What did they say?”

 

“Stella and Stephanie wanted to make sure I was in this for the long haul, and I think your dad’s a little uncomfortable with… us. He wondered if maybe everything that happened with Matt, and Colombia and Charlie hasn’t made you a little bit… not yourself.”

 

Danny laughs a little and then when he sees that Steve is not kidding around, his smile disappears. “What? Seriously?”

 

Steve nods. “I guess he doesn’t know about Ricky, and he seemed to think that we had only just gotten together when you told them about us last summer. I didn’t tell him about Ricky, but I did tell him that we’ve been together since last December.”

 

“ _Shit_. I’m sorry, Steve. I’ll talk to him. I’ll let him know you’re not the first guy I’ve been with.”

 

“No, Danny… it’s okay. I don’t care about that. I just thought you’d want to know.”

 

“No, my family should know… maybe it will help them relax about this anyway.”

 

“Well, Stella knew already and she told Stephanie…”

 

“Oh, right... I guess I told Stella when I was drunk one time in college…” Danny remembers.

 

“What about your mom? You think she feels the same way?”

 

Danny turns and looks thoughtfully up at the ceiling for a few moments. “I think she was surprised by it and that maybe she wonders. But I think after losing Matt, she’s doesn’t want to ask questions that might cause conflict. Probably what’s most important to her is that I’m happy.” Danny is still staring at the ceiling when he adds, “And before you ask the ridiculously stupid question that I know you’re about to ask, _yes_ , I’m happy.” Danny finally turns his head to look at Steve who has a sheepish look on his face.

 

“They really love you, Danny,” Steve says softly.

 

Danny shrugs. “They’re my family. It’s kinda part of the package.”

 

Steve doesn’t respond, thinking about his own family and how he’s not sure it was ever part of the package with them… at least not with all of them.

 

Danny seems to read Steve’s thoughts and turns to him again. “And you’re part of the package now, so, you know… they love you, too.”

 

Steve doesn’t know how to respond to that so he just turns onto his side and drags Danny in, putting everything he feels into his kiss.

 

xoxoxo

 

~~Photographer – Brian~~

~~Danny’s birthday party~~


	26. At Play

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh! I hate that I missed posting yesterday - sorry - too much going on with travel and family stuff. I should be back on track for daily posts until we're done.
> 
> Also, no beta this chapter. Well... half a beta. KippyVee looked at part of this when I had it done Monday night, but I didn't finish it until later last night, so I didn't ask her to look at the rest. You'll be able to tell which parts she looked at and which she didn't!

 

_ Tuesday, January 26th _

 

Tuesday morning, Steve and Danny are up early, going through their regular routine of getting the kids up and making them breakfast. After that, though, they go their separate ways: Steve to the Palace in his truck; and Danny and Charlie drop Grace off at school and then head over to the Ala Moana to spend the day with Danny’s family again. Grace has been pouting because she can’t take off of school and hang out with her New Jersey family all day, but Danny and Rachel are both adamant that school comes first. Danny tells her that if she stops complaining and gets all her homework done all week, she can take Friday off, so she’s grudgingly cooperating.

  

Steve gets to the office and immediately calls up maps of the forest reserves onto the tech table, staring at and flipping through them for an hour or more, hoping for some sort of stroke of insight or something.

 

Around 10:30, Kono strides into the bullpen, back from HPD where she’s been going over search plans. “What’s up, Boss-man?” she asks, stepping up to his side at the table.

 

“Nothing,” Steve sighs. “Nothing at all,” he closes the map he’s been staring at in frustration.

 

“Hey, he’s gonna have to come out eventually, and when he does, we’ll be ready.”

 

“Yeah,” Steve answers dispiritedly, rubbing his hands down his face.

 

“Hey, so what’s Danny’s family like?” she asks, obvious in her effort to change the subject.

 

“Um… about what you’d expect. Short, blonde and loud,” Steve smiles despite himself.

 

“Yeah?” Kono laughs. “How’s that going for _you_?”

 

“Well, I got a talking to from his sisters and then his dad last night.”

 

“Seriously?” Kono looks at him, wide-eyed.

 

“Yep," Steve nods.  "But, you know, it was okay. They’re just looking out for Danny, and that’s not a bad thing.”

 

“It's kinda sweet, when you think about it."

 

“And you know, they all took to Charlie like they’ve known him all his life. It was really heartwarming to see.”

 

“Hard not to with that one; both of those kids are so great,” Kono says. “So, everything still going okay with the wedding?  Is Danny’s family keeping it quiet?”

 

“So far so good. But there’s so much going on with the surprise wedding and the fake surprise birthday party, that everyone knows isn’t a surprise but is still pretending it is… it’s hard to remember sometimes what Danny does and doesn’t know. I’ve almost said something to him a few times, and I’m afraid every time one of his family opens their mouth that they’re going to accidently say something… the kids especially.”

 

“Good luck with _that!_ ” Kono laughs. “What about the final details? Everything under control.”

 

“Mostly. Right now I just have to figure out how I’m going to get the tables and everything set up for the party, since we'll be the last ones to leave from the house and we don’t really have a caterer, per se.  I'm thinking that there's not really that much to do, so maybe we could just set things up once we get back from the overlook.”

 

“I could probably get a couple of my cousins to help out,” she offers. “Give them $50 and they could get everything set up for you.”

 

“Really?”

 

Sure,” Kono shrugs. “They’re always happy to make a few extra bucks. I’ll give them a call and let you know.”

 

“Thanks, Kono, that’d be great,” Steve’s clearly relieved.

 

“You know, it’s still awfully quiet with no sign of Harley, why don’t you take off and go meet Danny and his family. Where are they?”

 

“They’re hanging out at the Ala Moana today. A bunch of them wanted to try snorkeling so they were going to rent some gear and charter a boat to take them all out.”

 

“And you’re passing that up?” Kono asks, surprised.

 

“I wanted to check in here first – make sure there’s nothing new. And Phil’s called to tell me our tuxes are ready so I need to go pick those up. And since Danny’s won't be with me, I was thinking I should maybe get one of those little ring-bearer things.”

 

“You mean a little pillow,” she snickers.

 

“Yeah… yeah, a little pillow, I guess,” Steve finds himself blushing inexplicably.

 

“Well, get going, and maybe you can catch up with them before they go.”

 

xoxoxo

 

“Hey, I'm here to pick up a couple of tuxes,” Steve greets the clerk as he enters.

 

“Ah, Commander McGarrett. I have your tuxedos right here for you,” he says, gesturing to two garment bags hanging from the rack near the cash register.

 

“Yeah, thanks for getting them done a little early… one less thing to worry about on Saturday.”

 

“No problem. Will there be anything else?”

 

“Actually… yeah, maybe. Do you have, uh, those little pillow things that a ring bearer would use to carry wedding rings?”

 

“Of course. But did I misunderstand? I thought you were going to a school gala, not a wedding.”

 

“Well, yeah, that’s what Danny thinks. Actually, I um, I’m sort of planning a surprise wedding for us this Saturday.”

 

The other gentleman quirks one eyebrow at Steve. “A surprise wedding? That’s… unusual.”

 

At least he didn’t declare that Danny would freak out, like everyone else had. Of course, he barely knows Danny or Steve, so…

 

Steve just smiles and pulls out his wallet. “How much for the ring bearer pillow?”

 

Of course, it’s not that simple; there are a number of different sizes, materials and colors to choose from. The only saving grace to the whole thing is that there are only a limited number of options in stock. When the clerk shows him a small, square, white and blue pillow that looks like it would match Danny’s tux and the flowers just fine, Steve snatches it up without further thought.

 

When he gets to the truck, he stuffs it in the glove compartment before he heads over to the hotel.

 

xoxoxo

 

Steve finds Danny sitting in a cabana in the sand outside the Ala Moana, one eye on his computer, one eye on the kids playing in the water nearby.

 

“Hey,” Steve greets Danny. “Everyone else go out already?”

 

“No, they’re upstairs getting ready; they're supposed to meet the boat and get geared up in about a half hour. You gonna go?”

 

“I thought I would. Aren’t you?”

 

“Nah. Charlie can’t go and a couple of the littler kids want to just play in the waves, too. I’ll stay and watch them.”

 

“I’ll stay here with you, then,” Steve says, sitting on a chaise next to Danny.

 

“You don’t have to. I really don’t mind if you go. Besides, I have work to do here.”

 

“What are you working on?” Steve peers at his computer screen.

 

“Last minute things for the gala. I need to confirm everything with Paradise Lost; send the program to the printers; I don’t know… a bunch of other little things. There’s one last PTA meeting tomorrow to go over the last minute details, and then, barring some unforeseen catastrophe, we should be good to go for Saturday.”

 

“Is the meeting at the regular time?” Steve asks, giving Danny a sideways glance.

 

Danny huffs and turns toward him. “Steve, seriously, you do not have to go to the meeting with me.”

 

“No, I know, Danny. It's just, I’ve been at all the other meetings, you know… I kinda feel like I should be there for the last one, too.”

 

“You are such a goof sometimes,” Danny says, looking back at his laptop, but Steve can read the fondness there. After a few seconds, it looks like Danny has a another thought and he turns back to Steve.  “But I do appreciate your help with this stuff, and you're like, the best boyfriend ever to put up with those women and their meetings,” he say, then pulls Steve in for a very quick kiss before turning back to the computer.

 

“Anytime, Danno,” he answers, because Steve’s not above taking credit for being a super-excellent boyfriend (fiancé) if it gives him an excuse to be at that meeting to make sure those women keep their mouths shut!

 

“Are you sure you don’t want to go snorkeling? You have your gear, right?”

 

“I brought it, but if someone else wants to use it they can. I think I’ll stay here and keep you company. I can play with the kids while you work - then you don’t have to worry about keeping one eye on them.”

 

Danny eyes Steve for a moment. “Okay. Thanks.”

 

They sit for a few minutes, Danny pecking on his computer, and Steve keeping an eagle-eye on the four kids playing in the water.

 

“Oh, hey, I picked up our tuxes,” Steve mentions as they sit.

 

Danny’s face brightens. “You did? That's great, thanks, babe!”

 

Steve shrugs. “I figured one less thing for you to worry about on Friday or Saturday.”

 

“No, that’s seriously helpful. Thank you very much,” Danny tells him. “So, speaking of Friday night… is there a plan I should know about so that I can act surprised?”

 

“How about I actually not tell you the plan and then you _will_ be surprised,” Steve fires back.

 

“Ah, come on! Just tell me so I can be cooperative,” Danny wheedles.

 

“Danny, I don’t think there’s a single person in your family who would know what to do with you if you were cooperative. How about you just sit back, relax, and expect the unexpected."

 

“You really think you’re going to surprise me, don’t you?" he eyes Steve speculatively.  "I’m very clever, you know. I figured out what you were up to in the first place… I can figure out the rest of it,” Danny goads him.

 

Steve just smiles enigmatically.

 

“I hate you so much right now," Danny huffs.

 

“I’m pretty sure, Daniel, that we have actually established that you do, in fact, love me…” Steve gives him a smirk, and he’s about to bend over and kiss Danny again when he hears Charlie call to him from the water.

 

“Uncle Steve! Come in the water with us!” he yells and a chorus of three other voices join Charlie’s.

 

“Duty calls,” Danny gestures to the shore and Steve smiles and stands, quickly stripping of his shirt and trotting to the shore, turning to give Danny a wink just as he gets there.

 

Steve spends the better part of the afternoon frolicking in the surf with the younger kids, while Danny’s parents, sisters and husbands go snorkeling. When he periodically casts a glance toward the cabana, invariably, Danny is already looking back, smiling.

 

When the kids take a break from the water to attempt to build the largest sand castle, ever, Steve stumbles back up to the cabana, finding welcome respite in the shade. Danny hands him a bottle of water and he guzzles it down in one go.

 

“Getting tired?” Danny asks, giving him a sympathetic look.

 

“Don’t _they_ ever get tired?”

 

“Four kids, under the age of 11… not likely,” Danny tells him and Steve cringes a little. “Hey, I was going to go pick up Grace, but if you want to take a break and make the run, I’ll go down there with the kids,” Danny offers.

 

Steve honestly enjoys playing with the kids, but won’t deny the fact that he could use a little break. Besides, if he goes, it means one less opportunity for those idiot women to corner Danny and say something they shouldn’t. “Yeah, sure. I’ll go pick up Gracie.”

 

At the school, he’s relieved to avoid all of the PTA moms, and after he gets Grace, they stop at the house so she can get her beach stuff and head over to the hotel to meet up with the rest of the family. When they get back to the beach, they find Danny being attacked by 4 sand-covered kids and Grace races to join them. Steve drops down into the chaise lounge in the cabana and just grins wickedly when Danny turns a pleading eye toward him.

 

He can’t help but laugh when Danny drags all four of the smaller kids into the water, two clinging on each leg as Danny lumbers slowly to his destination. Once they’re in the shallow water, the kids – Grace included – gang up on him and push him over and Danny makes a show of windmilling his arms and falling dramatically backward, with all the kids screaming and laughing.  Danny shoots up again a moment later, roaring at the kids and they squeal and swim away.

 

Steve has a brief moment to stare and appreciate the sight of Danny’s body - dripping wet with his board shorts dipping low on his hips, before his partner reaches down and tugs them up a little. The sight is so compelling that Steve can’t stop himself from pulling out his phone and typing a quick addition to his ‘to-do’ list, keeping one eye on the scene in front of him.

 

xoxoxo

 

After everyone returns and cleans up, they all hit the sports bar in the hotel for dinner and then Steve and Danny drag the two very sleepy kids home; Charlie falls asleep in the car and doesn’t wake up at all as they wrestle him into pajamas and into bed. Grace says a quick good-night and is gone herself.

 

“I’m gonna take a shower,” Danny tells Steve, making his way into their bedroom, shucking his sandy clothes and then heading into the bathroom.

 

Three seconds after Danny steps into the shower, Steve is there behind him, turning him quickly and pressing him up against the wall, pushing his tongue deep inside Danny’s mouth. Danny makes the briefest noise of surprised protest before registering what’s happening and relaxing into Steve’s attentions.

 

He is breathless when Steve finally pulls back a minute later. “What… uh, what was that about?” Danny pants into Steve’s collarbone. “Not that I’m complaining.”

 

“Mmm... been thinking about this all day,” Steve mumbles into the side of Danny’s neck then sucks ever so lightly at that spot behind Danny's jaw.

 

“Y-Yeah?” Danny barely manages, half-gone already.

 

“Mm hmm,” Steve affirms, his mouth working wetly down Danny's neck now.  “You look really good in those board shorts,” he adds, then drops to his knees as Danny gasps.

 

xoxoxo

 

~~Pick up tuxes~~

~~Ring-bearer pillow~~

Fuck Danny in the shower tonight

 

 


	27. At work

 

_ Wednesday, January 27th _

 

Wednesday morning, they follow much the same routine as the day before, except that today, Danny is dropping Charlie with his family and then heading in to work himself. When Danny mentioned that he felt like he needed to spend some time at work, Clara insisted that they wanted Charlie to spend the day with them, instead of Danny taking him to pre-school. Charlie seems to have taken to his new family like a fish to water, and Danny is secretly hugely relieved that his family seems to really love his son already, so he readily agrees.  

 

Steve gets to the office before Danny and finds the team around the tech table already. “Hey, what’s up? Any news?” he asks hopefully.

 

“HPD got a call that someone spotted a white pick-up truck on one of the reserve service roads that’s closed except for forest staff. They’re sending some extra cars to search the area and we thought we’d head out there, too.”

 

“That’s great!” Steve answers enthusiastically. “Which reserve was it?”

 

“Mokuleai.”

 

Steve growls in frustration. “Of course, the biggest and most rugged... Okay, as soon as Danny gets here, we’ll head out there as well. Chin, you stay and run things from here… see if you can find anything on the most recent satellite images.” Not for the first time, Steve laments the fact that Catherine isn’t with Naval Intelligence anymore and can’t get them access to real-time satellite footage. Barring a significant threat to public safety, the best they can get their hands on is more than 36 hours old.

 

“Oh, hey,” Kono stops them before they scatter. “Before Danny gets here… I talked to my cousin Yushin, and he’s lined up to take care of setting up the yard on Saturday. And you two,” Kono turns to Chin and Lou, “are getting the beer and wine on ice and getting it to Yushin’s in the afternoon, right?” Kono gives them a look like they better not say no.

 

“Yes, Kono,” Lou and Chin respond in unison, nodding their heads.

 

Steve looks slightly uncomfortable at the exchange but Chin reads it quickly. “Hey, look, we’re just kidding around, Steve,” he puts a reassuring hand on Steve’s arm. “We’re really happy to help out any way we can. I know we’ve given you a hard time about this, but we really do think this is a great thing you’re doing.”

 

“Yeah?” Steve asks, his nerves showing.

 

“Yeah, you know… it’s… it’s kinda sweet,” Lou answers, and everyone looks at him with bemused expressions. His mouth firms into a tight line and he points at all of them. “And I better not hear that any one of you has repeated that I said that!” he huffs and starts to leave. “Come on, Kono, let’s get outta here before I say something I’ll _really_ regret!”

 

“See ya, guys!” Kono throws over her shoulder with a smile and disappears out the door after Lou.

 

When Danny shows up about 20 minutes later, Steve starts to shuffle him out to his pickup right away.

 

“Hey, hang on,” Danny stops before he gets in to Steve’s vehicle. “Maybe we should take separate cars, that way we can cover twice as much ground and I’ve also got that meeting at 3:00.”

 

Steve looks at his watch – it’s 9:30. “No, let’s go together… we can get a few hours of searching in before we have to be at the meeting –“

 

“- Steve, I told you, you don’t –“

 

“Besides, those forest roads are muddy and the Camaro would probably get stuck. We definitely need a four-wheel-drive out there.”

 

Danny sighs in surrender and gets into the Silverado without further protest.

 

Three hours later, they’re driving over yet another unpaved, bumpy road, when Danny asks Steve to pull over so he can get out and take a piss. As soon as they stop, they both head for the tree line on their side of the truck. Steve makes it back before Danny and he stands with the door open, one hand on the roof, one on the top of the door. Danny wanders back up a minute later and stands in his open door, too.

 

“This is frustrating,” Steve remarks, banging the top of the truck. “He could be hundreds of miles away for all we know.”

 

Danny doesn’t comment, and instead starts poking his head into the back of the truck and digging around.

 

“What’re you looking for?” Steve asks, ducking his head down to look in the Silverado at his partner.

 

Danny swings his upper body into the front of the truck, looking under the seat. “You got any water in here?” he asks, reaching next for the glove compartment. “I’m thirsty.”

 

“Danny…!” Steve starts, panicked, because he just remembered that he didn’t take the ring bearer’s pillow out the day before.

 

Danny darts a quick, curious glance in Steve’s direction at the urgent tone, but then flips open the glove box.

 

Steve freezes when he sees Danny grab the pillow and stand upright outside of the truck cab. “What the hell is this?”

 

“Um…” Steve doesn’t know what to say. _Steve doesn’t know what to say!_

 

“Did Grace drag her American Girl stuff out again?”

 

“Uh, what?”

 

“I looks like something from her doll stuff…”

 

“Uh, right… _that’s right!_ When I picked Grace up yesterday she grabbed that, too, when she went to get her beach stuff. I think she wanted to show her cousin,” Steve watches Danny warily, waiting to see if he buys that.

 

Danny is furrowing his brow as he examines the pillow. “It doesn’t look familiar…”

 

“Yeah, uh, Grace said her Grandma Edwards sent her some new stuff recently; that’s why she wanted to bring it along,” Steve is sweating bullets because he only half-knows what he’s saying and he’s praying it makes sense and holds up.

 

Danny shoves the pillow back in the glove box, slamming it shut. “I hate it when they just send stuff to the kids for no reason at all… You know, that makes a child spoiled,” Danny grumbles.

 

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it, Danny. Grace’s got a good head on her shoulders. And, yeah, by the way… I have water in the back.”

 

Steve opens the utility box in the bed of the truck and pulls out a couple of bottles of water, tossing one to Danny. They both take a few moments to drink deeply, and Steve pours a little down the back of his neck where his moment of panic had him sweating. After he drinks the rest of the bottle, he checks the time.

 

“We should head back to town or we’ll miss the meeting. We’re not likely to find anything out here anyway,” he says as he climbs back into the truck. “Hey, give Chin and Kono a call and let them know we’re headed in, would you?” Steve ask him, hoping that giving Danny a task will distract him from all thoughts of that damn pillow!

 

xoxoxo

 

Danny diverts them to the print shop to pick up the programs on the way to the PTA meeting, so they get there a few minutes late. It’s a smaller group at this meeting - just them, Kelly Rushmore, Colette (looking appropriately contrite), Caroline, and a couple others who seem to play key roles in the event – so they all sit around one large, round table.

 

Danny gives his report, going over each item on his list and filling them in on how everything is taken care of. The last thing he does is pull out the programs and hand them over for everyone to preview.

 

“These are very nice,” Kelly says, then looks up and smiles at him. “Well, Detective Williams, I must say, you have done a wonderful job with this event.”

 

“Thank you,” Danny nods vaguely with what Steve knows is his fake smile plastered on his face.

 

“Yes,” one of the other unnamed women adds. “It’s really going to be a fabulous event, so it’s such a shame that you-“ she yelps suddenly, cutting off her words, and Steve has the clear impression that someone has kicked her under the table. If Steve were sitting close enough, it would have been him.

 

Danny looks around, perplexed at what just happened. Unnamed Woman is looking sheepish and everyone else is trying for casually unaware.

 

“Um, are you alright?” Danny asks her, furrowing his brow and looking at her with concern.

 

“Fine… I’m fine,” she smiles tightly, but seems to be reaching down and rubbing her ankle.

 

“So, uh, what were you saying? It’s a shame that I… what?” Danny prompts her.

 

“Oh, I was _just going to say_ …” she turns and gives her neighbor a warning look, “that it’s a shame that you…” everyone seems to suck in a breath, “couldn’t convince _all_ the parents to come.” Everyone at the table (except Danny) seems to relax fractionally, and Unnamed Woman glares at them all smugly.

 

“Well, I don’t think Paradise Lost – I mean, Found – could have accommodated the whole school…” Danny mumbles, still looking confused, but even more so, looking like he can’t wait to get the hell out of there now.

 

Steve sees an opening and jumps in. “So, listen. Danny and I really should be getting back to work, so if you’re done with him…”

 

“Of course!” Kelly says brightly. “We all can’t wait for Saturday. We’ll see you there at 5:00,” she winks at Steve and it’s all he can do not to roll his eyes.

 

He cannot get Danny out of there fast enough, so he finds himself prodding and pushing at Danny, urging him to get up and move. Danny gives him an unimpressed look, but gets up anyway, and Steve grabs his arm and pulls him along.

 

"I swear to God, those women get weirder every time I see them," Danny whispers as they're clearing the doorway.  "You know what?" he adds.  "I think Saturday night is going to be the best night of my life because I will finally be  _done_ with this thing."

 

"Yeah, Saturday's gonna be great," Steve grins.

 

"What the hell is with you?  Huh?" Danny gives him the side-eye as they walk out the front doors.  "You're acting as weird as those women."

 

Before Steve can respond, Grace calls out to them, and Steve remembers he needs to get to her before Danny does.  Before Danny can even say hello, Steve tags Grace. “Come on, Grace… race ya!” he says, darting past her, and like any adolescent, Grace does not say no to that challenge.

 

When they get to the truck, Steve quickly explains about the pillow and she nods in understanding. Danny ambles up a moment later and they all climb in and head toward the Palace so they can pick up the Camaro.

 

“Oh, hey, Danno. I think I left one of my doll things in here yesterday. Can you look in the glove compartment?” she asks, innocently.

 

Danny flips it open and grabs the ring-bearer pillow, tossing it into the back seat at her. “Did Grandma Edwards give that to you?” he asks her.

 

“Yeah, she sent me a few things last week,” Grace lies.

 

Steve’s not above corrupting a minor of it means keeping his op intact.

 

“I hope you sent her a thank-you note,” Danny grumbles.

 

“I did,” Grace answers, and when Steve winks at her in the rearview mirror, she smiles and winks back.

 

xoxoxo

 

They arrive to find most of the family at the pool, and Grace immediately changes and joins them. Steve strategically takes a seat on a chaise lounge between Clara and Stella, so he can talk about party and wedding plans; Danny is sitting across the pool next to his father and when Steve glances over now and then, they seem to be having a fairly serious conversation.

 

“Steven, do you have something in mind for making the potatoes?” Clara asks him.

 

“Well, if you wanted to come to the house on Friday while Danny and I are at work, you can make them there. Danny told Grace she can stay home on Friday, so she can help and show you where everything is.”

 

“Stella and Stephanie can help, too,” she adds and Steve sees Stella make a face. “But are you sure you and Danny won’t be home at all during the day?”

 

“No. There’s no reason we would be. We pretty much never stop home on a work day; the house is pretty far away from the Palace.”

 

“Okay. We can get them all ready and take them back to the hotel; between the refrigerators in each of our rooms, we should have enough space for it all.”

 

“That’s great, Clara. I'll talk to Kono about having her cousin pick those up at the hotel on Saturday afternoon," Steve plans as he goes.  "And thank you, again. I know Danny’s going to be thrilled,” Steve smiles in anticipation of seeing Danny’s face.

 

“Oh, also, we got a room for the birthday dinner downstairs at the Italian restaurant at the hotel. We ordered an antipasto and salad and lasagna. And Danny’s not a huge cake fan, so we’re just having peppermint ice cream for dessert,” she fills him in. “And I brought all kinds of photos from home from when Danny was growing up and the girls and Brian and Eric have been working on a little program that we’ll have after dinner.”

 

“Oh my God! You mean like pictures of Danny when he was a kid?” Steve asks, his eyes gleaming.

 

“Yeah!” Stella snorts. “He’s gonna hate it – it’s gonna be great!”

 

Steve smiles and looks across at Danny who glances up at the same time. Steve beams at him and raises his glass of ice water at him. Danny throws him a suspicious expression, but then Eddie says something and his attention turns back to his father.

 

“Do you have some more recent photos of Daniel, Steve?” Clara asks him. “It would be nice to have some from his life here in Hawai’i, too.”

 

“Yeah, sure. I have a lot. Oh, and I think I have a perfect one to end the show with.”

 

Which reminds him… he meant to order an enlargement of that photo so he could frame it and give it to Danny for his birthday.   He opens his photos and finds the one he’s looking for and uploads it to the photo store’s website and orders the print.  That done, he opens the 'notes' section on his phone, types out a couple quick reminders and tucks his phone away again.

 

 

 

xoxoxo

 

Hours later, after they’re all home and the kids are asleep, Danny and Steve slip out to the lanai for some calm and quiet after another frenetic Williams evening.

 

Danny takes a long pull off his beer and sighs heavily. Steve slumps down in his chair, his eyes half closed and gazes at the ocean. The quiet waves have nearly lulled him to sleep when Danny clears his throat a little.

 

“So… I talked to my dad.”

 

Steve turns his head. “You did?”

 

“Yeah. I explained to him that you weren’t the first guy I had been with and reassured him that this isn’t some sort of mental break I’m having after all the stress last year.” He takes another pull off his beer.

 

“Danny, you really didn’t have to do that on my account,” Steve tells his softly.

 

“I know. I didn’t do it for you. I mean, I did, but, I did it for me mostly. I didn’t want him thinking I don’t know what I’m doing… because I do,” he says pointedly, looking directly at Steve.

 

“How did he take that?”

 

“Um… he was pretty shocked about Ricky; he really had no idea – which I knew he didn’t. I think there was still a part of him that hoped I might ‘come to my senses’, so that kind of put an end to that pipe dream.”

 

“Oh,” Steve murmurs, picking at the label of his beer bottle.

 

“No… hey. It’s not like that. It’s just hard for guys of his generation, you know? I mean, don’t you think your dad would have been a little surprised? You know, he’s thinking you would someday settle down with some pretty girl and give him 2.5 grandchildren, and then one day you show up with me?”

 

“Yeah, he probably would have been a little bent out of shape about that,” Steve concedes, thinking he’s sort of glad he never had to have that conversation with John McGarrett.

 

“Look, it’s not that Pop doesn’t like you. He does – he likes you a lot. You’re just… not what he expected. But now that he knows that this isn’t some temporary insanity on my part, he just needs to let the idea settle with him. It’s just how Pop does things – but he will - trust me. Plus I told him that this thing with us is looking like it might be permanent… like we might even get married someday,” Danny glances sort of nervously at Steve.

 

“Yeah? You told him that?” Steve cocks an eyebrow at Danny.

 

“I did. I hope that’s okay.”

 

Steve relaxes fractionally. “Yeah… yeah, it’s okay, Danno. What’d he say?” Steve asks, curious, given that Eddie already knows they’re getting married in three days.

 

“He said, and I quote, ‘well, I believe that when you and Steve get married, it will be my first gay wedding, and I'll be in the front row, smiling’, unquote.”

 

“Well, we’ll have to make sure we give him something to remember when the day comes, won’t we?” Steve smirks and relaxes more fully, tipping his bottle out to clink it with Danny’s.

 

“You know it, babe,” Danny clinks his bottle back and they both take a long drink.

 

xoxoxo

 

~~Set-up crew~~

~~Beer/wine/drinks~~

~~Order Danny’s birthday gift~~

~~Last PTA meeting~~

Pick up Danny's birthday gift

Get photos to Eric/Stella

 


	28. In love

 

_ Thursday, January 28th _

 

Thursday morning, Steve gets up at his regular early swim time, but instead of putting on his board shorts and heading for the ocean, he grabs his phone and his laptop and sits down with them at the dining room table. He spends the next hour sorting through the accumulated photographs of the six years of his and Danny’s acquaintance. He finds himself pausing frequently and smiling at the many memories they bring forth. He has a hard time choosing between all of them, but he picks about 30 and copies them onto a flash drive, which he then takes and slips into a plastic ziplock baggie that he tucks that into the front, little-used pocket of Charlie’s backpack. He shoots off a text to Clara, Stella and Eric, letting them know it’s there so that when Charlie arrives with Danny in a little while, they can grab it and transfer the photos to their slideshow. That done, he goes to wake the rest of the household.

 

The rest of the morning goes much like the previous days of the week: kids up and out; Danny takes Charlie to the hotel; Steve goes straight to the Palace and Danny will meet him there a little later. Steve takes the extra time while Danny’s gone to go over his notes and review what he still needs to do or coordinate for Saturday. He groans out loud when he sees how long the list is.

 

“Kono!” he calls out, when he sees her walking through the bullpen and she changes course and comes into his office.

 

“What’s up?”

 

“I’m just… looking at everything I need to get organized for Saturday and I think I’m in a little over my head here,” he looks up at her with panic in his eyes. “If I paid your cousins $500, do you think they could help out a little more? Or maybe a lot more?”

 

“Probably… What’s up? What do you need them to do?”

 

“I just keep thinking of all these things, you know? Like garbage cans. If we’re eating on paper plates, we’re going to need some big garbage cans. And the pyramid of malasadas… someone has to pick that up. _I_ won’t be able to! And the centerpieces. They’re at _your_ house! We need to get them back to my house and on the tables… And a sound system… I need a sound system set up…” Steve wipes a hand over his face and gives Kono a terrified, pleading look.

 

“Okay, hey, Steve, relax. I’m sure I can get Yushin to give you the whole day and do whatever you need him to do - especially for $500.  And if not, I’ve got plenty more cousins where he came from.”

 

Steve gives her a weak smile.

 

“Do you have a list?” she asks him.

 

“ _No!_ I don’t even have a list!” Steve’s panic is back.  "I mean, I sort of have one, but it's a mess..."

 

“Alright… take it easy. Let’s just make a list. Then I’ll call Yushin and it’ll all be taken care of, okay?”

 

“Yeah… yeah, okay. Thanks, Kono,” Steve visibly relaxes.

 

Steve pulls up his cobbled-together list and together they organize it and think of more things that they need to add to it.

 

When they finally finish, it’s a pretty long list… “Hey, how about I see if maybe they can get some of those strings of little white lights and put them around the yard?” Kono makes one last suggestion.

 

Steve’s eyes open wide at the idea. “That would be great, Kono! Oh my God… I don’t know what I would do without you,” he stands up and sweeps her into a giant hug.

 

“Hey, you making a move on my guy?” they hear Danny’s voice behind them and they jump apart, startled, not realizing Danny was there and wondering if he heard anything. Danny watches their reaction quizzically. “I’m just kidding…”

 

Kono laughs. “We know… you just surprised us,” she covers. “Okay, I gotta go,” she says, grabbing the paper with the list and scurrying off. “See you later,” she calls as she trots away.

 

Danny furrows his brow at Steve. “What was that?” he points his thumb over his shoulder.

 

“Just, you know… she’s kinda down about Adam. I was trying to make her feel better.”

 

“Ah…” Danny nods knowingly. “He doing okay? She say anything about how things are going inside for him?”

 

“Nothing new,” Steve tells him.

 

“Okay. I was going to go across the street and get some coffee. You want some?” Danny asks.

 

“Sure. I’ll have my usual.”

 

“Okay, one venti, non-fat, skinny, soy, caramel-mocha macchiato…”

 

Steve wads up a piece of scrap paper and throws it at him but Danny ducks, laughing, and darts out the door.

 

Steve takes advantage of the small window of opportunity to call Tony’s and confirm the pizza truck for Saturday night, and then calls the Governor and confirms him for the lookout. That done, he opens his computer and checks the status of Mary’s flight; she and Joanie are arriving at 3:30 – perfect timing because Danny will need to leave to go pick up Grace at 3:00, so Steve will be able to slip away to the airport without him knowing.

 

Idiotically, Steve had booked her a room at the Ala Moana when he booked the rooms for Danny’s family, and now it’s occurred to him that she’s going to have to lay low for 48 hours so they don’t risk her running into Danny accidentally. She’s not going to like that.

 

Danny gets back with Steve’s large, black coffee and after a quick check-in with HPD and still no concrete sightings, they’re just about to head out to drive more back roads, when Steve gets a cryptic call from Barry Burns. He tells them to meet him at Arnold’s Beach Bar at noon, so they scrap their plans for more driving.

 

xoxoxo

 

“Would you look at this place?” Danny comments as they are approaching the bar. “It looks like it’s right outta ‘The Brady Bunch goes to Hawaii’.”

 

“It’s a classic tiki bar, Danny. Haven’t you ever been here before?”

 

“No, we live in Hawai’i, why would I go to a tropical-themed bar?” he looks at Steve like he’s demented.

 

Steve shrugs. “It’s kinda fun.”

 

“Really? Do _you_ come here often?” Danny asks, one eyebrow raised high.

 

"No,” Steve says, pulling open the door and ducking inside, leaving Danny to stare after him on the sidewalk.

 

Danny catches up with Steve who is looking around the dim room for Barry. “I swear to God, you are…” but Danny stops when he spots Barry. “Hey, over there,” Danny taps Steve’s arm and points toward the bar.

 

“Hey, Barry. What’s the news? You got something for us?” Steve asks immediately as they approach him.

 

“Maybe. I got a call from a guy yesterday – he wouldn’t give me his name, but he said he had a painting he needed to move. And that it’s worth a lot of money.”

 

“Did he mention the name of it?” Danny asks.

 

“No, but he said it was a Thomas Moran and that it’s big – like huge. Honestly, I don’t think he even knows the name of the painting…”

 

“What’d you tell him?”

 

“I did like you told me last week; I told him I was definitely interested and told him I’d want to see it before I’d commit to anything. He got a little squirrelly though and told me he’d get back to me if he could arrange a meeting.”

 

“That’s it?” Steve asks.

 

“That’s it. He hung up before I could get anything else. You think it’s the painting you’re looking for?”

 

Steve and Danny glance at each other. “Definitely,” they say simultaneously.

 

“Could you hear anything in the background? Any city noise – or not-city noise?” Danny quizzes him.

 

“I didn’t notice anything,” Barry answers, then seems to stop and think about it for a minute, then shakes his head. “No, definitely didn’t notice anything.”

 

“Okay,” Steve sighs. “Let us know if you hear from him again, and maybe next time, don’t wait until the next day to tell us, huh?”

 

“Sorry! I was busy…”

 

Steve and Danny both roll their eyes and start to walk away.

 

“Hey! How about maybe you buy my drink or something?” Barry calls out to them.

 

“Barry, you find us that painting and I’ll buy you drinks for a month!” Steve tells him, walking backward toward the door.

 

“I’m gonna hold you to that!” they hear Barry yell as the door closes behind them.

 

xoxoxo

 

Steve stops at the photo shop to pick up the picture for Danny’s birthday, then heads to the airport to pick up Mary and Joan. The flight is on time and Steve ferries them to the Ala Moana, warning her constantly to lay low and make sure to avoid the Williamses.

 

“How am I supposed to do that? I don’t even know what they look like!” she complains.

 

“Alright, look… just, watch out for Danny, would ya? And if you go to the beach, maybe walk down a little ways instead of parking right in front of the hotel. Oh, and stay out of the restaurant tomorrow night – I’ll pay for room service!” he cuts off her complaint before she can make it.

 

“Ugh! Why did you invite me here if you’re just going to lock me up in the tower like Rapunzel the whole time!”

 

“Look, Mare… I’m sorry. Please, can you just do this for me for a couple days,” Steve pleads. “It’s really important to me, and you’ll have five days after the wedding when you can come and go as much as you want.”

 

“ _Fine!_ ” she says, but she’s still pouting.

 

Steve sighs to himself. It’ll be a miracle if he manages to get through the next two days with his op intact.

 

xoxoxo

 

Another night of all hands pitching in to make dinner at Steve and Danny’s and hanging out in the yard. Steve is standing with Danny talking to his sisters and Clara when Danny laughs at something and the sight does something in the pit of Steve’s stomach. He can’t really stop himself from snaking his arm around Danny’s waist and pulling him in to kiss him on the temple; Danny pinks up a little and nudges Steve, as though he’s trying to push him away, but he obviously isn’t.

 

“Ugh. God you two are so adorable it’s sickening,” Stephanie complains.

 

Steve gives her an enormous grin while Danny gives her the stink eye.

 

“Oh, Stephanie, stop that,” Clara chastises her. “I think it’s wonderful seeing two people so much in love.”

 

“Ma…” Danny protests, turning a deeper shade of red.

 

“Oh Sweetie, don’t be embarrassed…”

 

“You see what you started?” Danny mumbles out of the side of his mouth at Steve.

 

Steve leans in and murmurs in Danny’s ear. “Sorry… I couldn’t help myself.”

 

Danny just huffs. A second later, a screech interrupts the scene as Charlie and one of his cousins take a tumble on the lawn and everyone goes running.

 

xoxoxo

 

“Man, you would not _believe_ the amount of palaver going on in Williams World about you two. I’ve never seen it reach this level,” Brian says to Steve after sidling up to him at the edge of the crowd.

 

Steve has stepped over to the trees and has been trying to disappear into them a little bit, needing a little bit of a break from the general mayhem. “Uh… really? Is that bad?” Steve shifts nervously.

 

Brian shrugs. “Not necessarily. But in Williams World, the level does typically directly correlate to the novelty of the topic as well as the importance.”

 

Brian and Stephanie have been married for going on 15 years, and started dating 5 years before that in high school, so Steve figures he knows what he’s talking about.

 

“I need you to be a little more specific here, Brian. Am I in trouble with these people or not?”

 

Brian laughs. “No, definitely not. The palaver is intense, but the upshot of it all seems to be good. There’s a lot of talk about how Danny seems to be doing after… everything; about Charlie and Grace; about Matt and what happened there; and about _you_ in relation to _all of that_ – and of course, the upcoming nuptials, and your idea to surprise Danny.”

 

Steve whips his head around quickly to make sure Danny isn’t within earshot.

 

“Relax,” Brian tells him. “He’s over by the water with Charlie,” he gestures with his chin.

 

“So, uh, what’s the verdict?”

 

“Consensus is currently running high with the women that you ‘are good for Danny’, you’re the steady rock that he needs, and are perhaps the most romantic man who ever lived."  Steve feels his face heat at that comment.  "And conversely," Brian continues, "the men would all sort of like to kill you.”

 

Steve laughs and can’t stop himself glancing fondly over at Danny again.

 

“God, you really are every bit as in love as it seems aren’t you?”

 

Steve’s blush deepens exponentially and he takes a deep breath, squaring himself to Brian. “Danny and I have been through a hell of a lot together, and it took us a long time to get here… and there _are so many_ reasons why we could, just as easily, _not_ have gotten here, you know what I mean? So, yeah I’m every bit as in love as it seems and there is no way in hell that I am letting that go.” Steve’s not really sure why he just revealed all that to his future brother-in-law, but he just kind of felt like he needed to say it.

 

“Sickening…” Brian mutters good-naturedly.  “Do not _ever_ let my wife hear you talk like that!”

 

“So, ‘Williams World’…? Is that a thing?” Steve asks with a worried expression.

 

“Oh yes, my friend,” Brian puts his arm around Steve’s shoulder. “It is most definitely ‘a thing’ – one that you will soon be initiated into.”

 

“You’re, uh, you’re scaring me a little bit here, Brian…”

 

Brian gives him a serious look. “Be afraid, Steven. Be very afraid…”

 

xoxoxo

 

It’s late before everyone leaves and the kids are put to bed.  Steve and Danny find themselves out on the lanai again, Danny with his laptop, checking his email for any last minute gala details.

 

 _“Shit!”_   Danny mutters.

 

“What?” Steve asks, his hand stopped with his beer half-way to his mouth.

 

“I just got an email from Kelly reminding me to make nametags for everyone. _Reminding me!_ She never told me that we needed _nametags!_ That’s 368 people!”

 

“Uh… yeah… that’s kind of a lot,” Steve says, unhelpfully.

 

Danny shoots a glare over to him then puts his head back against the chair. “You might as well go to bed; looks like I’m gonna be up for a while yet.”

 

“You have to do it tonight?”

 

Danny sighs. “Yeah. I don’t have any time tomorrow, and I assume we’ll be out late for my not-surprise party,” Steve gives him a look filled with false-consternation. “Saturday I’ll have a million other things to take care of… I don’t know when else I’ll have time to do it,” Danny grumbles and opens a labels program.

 

Steve watches him for a moment, then goes inside and gets his own computer.

 

“What’re you doing?” Danny asks him.

 

“I have some stuff I can get done, too.”

 

“Like what?” Danny asks him skeptically.

 

Steve shifts his chair so that Danny can’t see his computer screen. “Just… stuff,” Steve answers cryptically, with a devilish grin. And if Danny interprets that as meaning that he’s doing something related to tomorrow’s ‘surprise party’, that’s okay with Steve.

 

Danny gives him an unimpressed look and sets about making nametags for the 368 gala attendees. While Danny works away, Steve opens his music files and starts compiling a playlist for the party for Saturday night. He had been going to ask Eric and maybe Danny’s sisters to help with that, but he can sit here and do it while he keeps Danny company. Besides, he’s been a little bit afraid of what might constitute good party music in ‘Williams World’; better to just do it himself.

 

Steve spends the next hour and half putting together a selection of Danny’s favorite songs – at least the ones that Steve finds even remotely palatable – and adds some of his favorites as well. By the time Danny shuts his computer with a huge yawn, Steve has a few hours of music ready for Saturday night.

 

xoxoxo

~~Kono/Yushin – YES!~~

~~Mary & Joan~~

~~Playlist for Saturday night~~

 

 


	29. Saving The World

_ Friday, January 29th _

 

Steve wakes before Danny, like he does every day, but today he doesn’t get up to swim. Today is Danny’s birthday and today, Steve is going to get his exercise a different way.

 

He quietly reaches back and grabs the lube from the bedside table, then takes a few minutes to prep himself. Once he’s ready, he snuggles up close to Danny and wakes him with hot wet kisses along his neck, and a slick hand on his cock.

 

“Happy birthday,” Steve says when Danny is awake enough to grasp what’s going on.

 

“I guess so,” Danny answers, smiling as he mumbles, “is this my present?”

 

“One of them,” Steve murmurs and then bends down and pushes his tongue into Danny’s mouth.

 

“Morning pretzel… I’d say it’s the best one,” Danny pants when Steve finally pulls back. And when Steve swings his leg over Danny’s hip and sinks himself down onto Danny’s cock, Danny gasps, “yeah… yeah definitely the best one,” his voice rising with each word.

 

“Shhh…” Steve warns him. “The kids…”

 

“Oh God, right… the kids… shutting up now…” Danny whispers, squeezing his eyes tightly.

 

Steve reaches up to pin Danny’s wrists above his head, and then fucks himself slow and deep on Danny’s cock, watching his reaction to every movement. He takes his partner to the edge three times before leaning in close and sliding wet, lingering kisses behind Danny’s jaw. When he does, a strangled noise escapes his partner and Steve feels him come, Danny’s body pushing desperately into him.

 

Steve gives him a minute and then rolls off of Danny, his fist immediately gripping his own erection and pumping furiously.

 

“Don’t you dare,” Danny mumbles and then shuffles around on the bed and Steve feels Danny’s hot mouth envelope him.

 

“ _Shit… Dan…”_ Steve manages, and then explodes into Danny’s mouth, his abdominal muscles flexing and contracting as he pulses through his orgasm.

 

A few seconds later, Danny rolls onto his back, panting and wiping his mouth. “Happy birthday to me,” he says, and Steve can see his eyes glittering happily.

 

xoxoxo

   

Danny is letting Grace skip school today, so he takes both kids over to the hotel so they can spend the day with the Williams family. As far as Danny knows, they’re going to hang out at the pool and/or beach again that day.

 

Danny arrives at the office about an hour after Steve, carrying two cups of coffee and walks immediately into Steve’s office handing him one.

 

“Thanks,” Steve says, taking the blessed beverage.

 

“You’re welcome,” Danny answers. “I thought this morning’s good behavior deserved some positive reinforcement,” he teases.

 

“Oh, you did?” Steve quirks up an amused eyebrow. “So if I give you pretzels every morning, you’ll bring me coffee?”

 

“Maybe. It’s a hypothesis worth testing, don’t you think?” he raises an eyebrow back. “Oh, hey… I could have sworn I saw Mary at the Ala Moana when I dropped the kids off this morning.”

 

Steve’s mouth goes instantly dry. “What? I don’t think so,” he takes a sip of coffee as panic ignites in him.

 

“No, I’m pretty sure it was her and Joan…”

 

“I think you better get your eyes checked old man. I talked to Mary yesterday and she and Joanie are actually in Florida visiting a friend of hers.”

 

“Already with the cracks about my age? You know, you are not that far behind me, buddy… And I think that maybe Mary and Joan are here for my surprise party tonight, am I right?” Danny gives him a self-satisfied smirk.

 

“I swear to God, Danny, you will not see Mary and Joan at your party tonight,” Steve says truthfully. “And will you stop talking about it, please. You aren’t supposed to know about it!” Steve feigns outrage at his ruined surprise.  

 

Before Danny can answer, Chin calls them into the bullpen. As he passes Danny, Steve can’t resist giving his partner’s ass a quick caress and Danny laughs and tries to swipe at Steve, but he jumps out of the way too quickly.

 

“What’s up?” Steve asks as they join the rest of the team around the tech table.

 

“Well, first of all, happy birthday, Danny,” Chin says, reaching across to shake his hand, and a chorus of more birthday wishes rings out.

 

“Thank you,” Danny grins. “And will you all be at my surprise party tonight?”

 

Steve shoots another look of false outrage at him.

 

“I thought you weren’t supposed to know about that,” Lou asks.  "Which is why they call it a _surprise_ party."

 

“Yeah, well, SuperSEAL here tried to keep it a secret, but I figured it out,” Danny answers smugly.

 

“Okay, right… Danny you are very clever… now can we maybe all get to work?” Steve tries to divert the conversation; all the talk about secrets and parties is getting to be a little too close for comfort for Steve.

 

Everyone sobers up a little and Chin fills them in. “So, Harley used a burner phone to call Barry Burns. We aren’t able to track it at all, but what we can do is narrow down the areas of the forest reserves where he might possibly be able to get cellphone coverage and make a call.” Chin taps on the table and the maps highlight areas with cell coverage. “That actually cuts the possible locations almost in half, and if we assume that it _was_ his truck spotted in Mokuleai the other day, then we can narrow the search area to the reserves in western Oahu. That cuts the search area down to 27% of the total we were working with before.” More tapping on the table and the new, much smaller search parameters appear.

 

“That’s good work, Chin. Let’s focus our satellite searches there.”

 

“The satellite images we have are still at least 36 hours old,” Kono points out.

 

“I know,” Steve concedes, “but it’s the best we’ve got. If we can find where the truck was 36 hours ago, maybe he’ll still be in that general area.”

 

They divide the search areas and then all head into their own office where they start the tedious work of scouring satellite photos.

 

At 12:30, Danny pokes his head into Steve’s office. “Lunch run?”

 

“Yeah, sure,” Steve answers, rubbing his eyes before he smiles up at his partner. “It’s your birthday, so wherever you want, Danno,” he says, but then thinks better of it. “But not…”

 

“Tony’s!” Danny demands.

 

Steve closes his eyes and curses himself and his big mouth. But what can he do? Trying to discourage him from Tony’s will only seem suspicious. “Okay, hey, how about you just relax and I’ll make the run,” he suggests, still hoping to minimize Danny’s contact with anyone who might know about the wedding.

 

“I’ll come with you,” Danny insists. “I’m sick of staring at my computer screen… need some sunshine.”

 

Steve sighs and gives up. He’s exhausted from trying to negotiate this surprise wedding, so what the hell, he’s just going to go with it. “Yeah, alright. Let’s go.”

 

xoxoxo

 

They are driving back from Tony’s, two large pizzas in the back of the car, when they hear fire engine sirens, and as they drive past a side street, they see smoke billowing from a building about a half-block down. Steve slows down, but they don’t usually get involved in events that are strictly fire-related. The fire department is fully competent to handle their own emergencies and 5-0 isn’t specifically trained in that area, so their usual MO is to stand back and stay out of the way.

 

But as Steve starts to clear the far corner, a sign catches his eye and he has a horrifying realization: The World Bakery – the place where he is getting Danny’s pyramid of malasadas – is immediately next door to the conflagration. The buildings are separated by about ten feet – thank God – but still, if the fire spreads and the bakery starts on fire, there is no way they will be making malasadas tomorrow!

 

Steve quickly swerves the Camaro into a U-turn and roars toward the fire.

 

“Whoa! _Whoa, whoa, whoa!_ _What the hell are you doing?_ ” Danny yells over the acceleration.

 

Steve doesn’t answer him, just focuses his laser-sight on The World and screeches to a halt in front of it. The fire engine crew is clearing the neighboring building and hooking their hose to the nearby hydrant. Steve jabs the truck release and leaps out of the car, Danny only a split second behind.

 

“Steve! _Steven!_ What are you doing?” Danny is shouting at him as Steve grabs the fire extinguisher from the trunk. “Steve! Stop! _Stop! Are you crazy?_ You cannot go over there!”

 

“Stay here, Danny,” Steve orders, and takes off toward the alley behind the buildings.

 

“Stay here, he says,” Danny mutters to himself, already running after his partner.

 

“ _What the hell are you doing?_ ” Danny yells at Steve when he rounds the corner and sees him climbing on top of the dumpster behind The World. “The fire’s in the building next door!”

 

“I told you to _stay there!_ ” Steve yells back, tossing the fire extinguisher onto the roof and scrambling up after it.

 

“The fire’s _next door!_ ” Danny shouts again. “ _And screw you!_ ” he adds, climbing onto the dumpster himself.

 

Steve gives him an exasperated look but then reaches down to grab Danny and pull him up. “I told you to stay there,” Steve says, sounding frustrated.

 

“And I said _screw you!_ ” Danny retorts, then stands up straight and looks around. “What the hell are we doing over here? The fire is next door!” he repeats.

 

“I _know that_ , Danny. The fire department is handling _that_. I’m just making sure this building doesn’t catch on fire,” Steve shouts over the noise and confusion below.

 

“Are you _crazy?_ ” Danny asks him – staring at his partner like he is, indeed, crazy.

 

Steve gives him another frustrated look, but knows he can’t explain, so he just runs over to the edge of the roof nearest the burning building and watches the progress. Danny eventually joins him, shaking his head and swearing under his breath, but he’s the one that sees the first potential disaster.

 

“ _Steve!_ ” Danny yells, grabbing his partner’s arm to get his attention and pointing across the roof to where some flying embers have taken hold and a small fire has started.

 

Steve bolts over to it and shoots the extinguisher at it, putting out the budding fire instantly.

 

An hour later, the fire next door is finally extinguished and the two of them have worked together to successfully keep a few small fires on the roof from growing into disastrous ones; they have successfully saved The World. They are sweaty and covered in ash and soot, but they are both smiling and laughing at their victory. Steve wraps his elbow around Danny’s neck and pulls him in to kiss his head and Danny pats Steve on the back.

 

“You are certifiable, you know that?” Danny says, with way too much fondness in his voice to be really angry.

 

It’s on the tip of Steve’s tongue to point out that Danny is the one who’s marrying him, but he catches himself just in time. They make their way back down off the building to find slightly annoyed firefighters, but bakery employees who are overjoyed and enthusiastic in their thanks.

 

“Oh my God, I’m so hungry,” Danny growls, as he climbs back into the Camaro and grabs one of the pizza boxes from the back of the car, shoving a piece of pizza into his mouth.

 

“Gimme one of those, would ya?” Steve asks with his hand out.

 

Danny obliges him and soon they are both groaning in pleasure at the cold, greasy pizza they cannot eat fast enough. They stuff their faces without talking as they watch the fire department start to mop up the mess from the larger fire next to The World. After they both finish devouring three slices apiece, Steve takes a deep, satisfied breath and lets it out, then reaches around and starts the car.

 

As he turns the Camaro around, Danny squints out the window at the building they just saved. “Hey… The World Bakery… I’ve heard of that. They’re supposed to have really good malasadas.”

 

“Yeah?” is Steve’s only response as he accelerates away with a wry smile on his face.

 

xoxoxo

 

They drag what’s left of the pizza back up to the Palace, explaining their delay to their stunned teammates, then Steve goes into his office and grabs a clean shirt and pants from his desk drawer where he always keeps a small supply. When he returns from the locker room after taking a quick shower, he finds Danny, still in his filthy clothes, just walking out of the bullpen with his car keys conspicuously in his hand.

 

“Where’re you going?” Steve asks him.

 

“Home. I don’t have any clean clothes here. I need to go shower and change,” he tells Steve and starts for the door again.

 

Steve panics. He’d gotten a text from both Clara and Grace letting him know that ‘the girls’ were all at the house making mashed potatoes for 30 people. “Wait! Danny… don’t you have some in the Camaro?” Steve asks him, praying Danny just forgot about the spare he usually keeps there.

 

“No, I used those a while back and forgot to replace them. It’s alright, I won’t be long. I’ll be back to search satellite photos within an hour.” He turns and starts to leave.

 

“I’ll come with you,” Steve blurts, catching up with his partner.

 

“What? Why? You’re already clean.”

 

“Come on, I’ll drive,” Steve says, ignoring Danny’s question and making a grab for the keys.

 

“Uh-uh. It’s my birthday and I am driving my own car today. Besides, I don’t want you making any more insane detours,” Danny holds the keys behind his back where Steve can’t get them.

 

Actually, Steve decides, maybe this isn’t so bad; if Danny’s driving, then Steve can send alert texts to everyone and let them know they’re on their way. He hopes to God, someone at the house is paying attention to their phone. If no one else, he’s pretty sure he can count on Grace to never be more than five feet and five minutes from her screen.

 

Steve types his text as fast as he can:

 

< _red alert! Danny on way to house hide yourselves and potatoes! ETA 20 min_ >

 

It’s not more than two minutes before he gets a response from Stella:

 

 _< where should we hide_>

 

Steve thinks for three seconds and then quickly answers:

 

< _garage and move your cars!!!!_ >

 

There’s very little reason why Danny would need to go into the garage; it’s as safe a place as any. Steve will just have to try to rush him along and keep him out of the kitchen because if they are in the middle of cooking, they might not be able to wipe away _all_ the evidence in the next… 16 minutes!

 

When Danny pulls into the driveway, Steve is hugely relieved to see no signs of any of the cars, and when they walk in, the house is quiet, and apparently empty. “Okay, Danno. Hurry up, will ya? We still have a lot of ground to cover on those satellite photos,” Steve prods him along toward the stairs.

 

Danny shoots a glare at him. “You didn’t need to come you know? You could have stayed and kept searching the images,” he says, slightly annoyed, but compliant about marching up the stairs anyway.

 

When Steve hears the shower start, he bolts back downstairs and takes a quick peek into the kitchen. It’s empty, but with some pretty obvious signs that something's been going on in here.  Yep – definitely need to keep Danny out.

 

He rushes to the garage and when he flings the door open, someone yelps, and it is followed by a chorus of ‘shhh!’

 

“Hey, it’s me, Steve,” he whispers loudly.

 

“Uncle Steve!” Grace’s head pops up from behind the Marquis. “Why did you guys come back?”

 

“We had a little mishap at work and got dirty. Danny’s in the shower and he’s going to change and then we’ll be outta your hair again. Stay here until you hear the Camaro leave, okay?”

 

“Okay, Sweetie,” he hears Clara say.

 

Steve glances upward where he can hear footsteps. “Sounds like he’s done. Gotta go. Shhhh!” he says, finger to lips.

 

He runs back to the kitchen and grabs two bottles of water and enters the living room just as Danny is coming down the stairs, working a comb through his hair.

 

“Here,” Steve says, pushing the water at Danny and guiding him toward the front door with a hand on his lower back. “Come on, let’s go,” he urges.

 

“I’m coming… I’m coming,” Danny says, then halts abruptly. “Does it smell like potatoes to you? Why does it smells like potatoes?”

 

Steve brain shorts out for a second but he recovers quickly. “Weird,” he says casually. “You know, I think that fire is messing with your sense of smell or something,” Steve tells him and pushes Danny a little harder toward the front door.

 

Danny gives him a puzzled look. “…I guess so,” he says distractedly, but then, to Steve’s relief, he resumes his steps and Steve hustles him out to the car.

 

xoxoxo

 

At 4:00, the alarm pings on Steve’s phone and he goes over to Danny’s office. “Hey, I gotta do a couple things… I’ll meet you at your parents’ suite in a little while?” Steve is really appreciating the fake-surprise-party ruse because he can use it as an excuse to slip away to do wedding things, but Danny will go along with the pretense that it’s for the surprise party and not ask any questions.

 

“Sure, okay,” Danny replies amiably. “I’m gonna take off here soon, too, so I’ll see you in a bit.”

 

Steve hops into the Silverado and heads to the courthouse. He’s given himself plenty of time and so he drives carefully at the speed limit, not wanting to risk any unexpected accidents. He gets to the Clerk’s office with a good half-hour to spare before closing, and when his not-so-favorite person glances up and sees him enter, Steve swears he sees a look of distaste flicker across her face.

 

“Good afternoon,” Steve says politely, a large, insincere smile plastered on his face. “I am here to pick up my marriage license,” he enunciates carefully.

 

“I know why you’re here,” she huffs sourly, and goes to the file cabinet behind the counter. She slaps a large envelope onto the counter and lays a form next to it. “Sign here to acknowledge receipt,” she demands, her words clipped.

 

Steve takes his time opening the envelope and pulling out the license. A real smile flashes as he reviews it and makes sure it’s all completed and correct, and then he carefully slides it back inside. After he signs the receipt form, he gives the clerk another fake smile. “Thank you so much,” he says to her, “and have a wonderful afternoon.”

 

Steve drives directly from the courthouse to the house, and goes immediately to the den and opens the safe, depositing the marriage license inside with all of his other most important possessions.

 

xoxoxo

 

The not-quite-a-real-surprise party is a huge success and Steve is appreciative that their ohana has all turned out tonight even though they’ll all be back together again tomorrow for the wedding. And even though Danny knew about the party, he had no idea what his family had in store for him, so he is still able to react with surprise.

 

His sisters (with some technical help from Eric) put together a sort-of ‘This is Your Life’ program with pictures and anecdotes from Danny’s entire life.   All of his family – including Grace – helps to narrate and takes turns telling stories that have everyone literally crying, they are laughing so hard. At several points during the program, Danny is red-faced and hiding his face in his hands in embarrassment, but he is laughing along with everyone else.

 

There are poignant moments, too, when photos of Danny and Matt flash on the screen, but no one is trying to pretend that it doesn’t hurt or that he isn’t missed, and when Steve turns to check Danny’s reaction, he thinks he sees a certain peace there.

 

The slideshow finally comes to an end with a picture of Steve and Danny and Grace and Charlie, taken by Lou, of all people. Not long after Danny had donated his bone marrow and Charlie was feeling a little better, they had had their ohana over for a celebration barbeque. The photo was taken in the back yard, and the four of them are on the beach, working on a sand castle. Lou had snapped the shot just a moment after Danny had said something funny, and the other three were looking at him with huge smiles on their faces; Danny has an expression of complete contentedness on his face as he looks back at Steve. When Lou had shown Steve the picture, he asked him to send it to him, with the specific intention of giving it to him as a 40th birthday present - remembering a similar picture he had given Danny for his birthday last year, except in that one, their family wasn't quite complete yet.

 

As soon as the photo appears on the large screen, there’s a split second of silence as everyone reacts and then several ‘aaaawwws’ can be heard from around the room.

 

Steve knew the photo was coming up, so he’s been watching Danny to see his reaction. Danny seems to freeze, and just stares at the picture for several long seconds, and when he turns to Steve, he can see that Danny’s eyes are shining. Steve gives him a small smile, then bends in close and murmurs, “Happy birthday, Danno,” and hands him the framed copy of the picture.

 

A raucous version of ‘Happy Birthday’ erupts, breaking the spell of the moment, and Grace and Charlie attack Danny, hugging him fiercely.

 

Steve watches as Danny hugs his children back with equal fervor. A moment later, he looks up and their eye meet. “Thanks, babe,” Danny mouths over their heads, and pulls him into their embrace.

 

xoxoxo

 

~~Pick up marriage license~~

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, just curious - show of hands - how many of you caught the set-up for 'Saving The World' when I mentioned the bakery's name in Chapter 15 (Eating)? Anybody?


	30. Saving each other

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... what can I say about this chapter? It's 6.5k largely written in the few hours I had free yesterday (I drafted part of it a few weeks ago). That's a lot for me to write in one day, and I think the rushed nature of it is going to be pretty obvious. And I would really have wanted to spend days on this chapter to get it perfect, but, at 11:58pm last night, I had to put it and myself to bed. it's a 'challenge', right? It's what you gotta do...
> 
> Anyway - hope you enjoy!

 

_ Saturday, January 30th _

 

Steve wakes suddenly at 5:30 am, adrenaline already pumping though his veins. He’s getting married today; 11.5 hours and counting. He turns his head and looks at Danny, suddenly nervous and… terrified. Not terrified that he’s made the wrong decision, but terrified that Danny will balk when he realizes what Steve has been planning.

 

He slips out of bed quietly and moves with purpose down the stairs and out the back door. He grabs his board shorts off the chair in the yard and in twenty more seconds he’s in the water, gliding through his strokes and trying to release the tension that had coiled in his body.

 

An hour later (10.5 hours and counting), he walks out of the water, considerably more relaxed and confident. He’s only got a couple of things to take care of today, so he’s not feeling rushed or overwhelmed. It’s going to be a good day, he decides. His biggest concern now, is that Harley might show himself in the next 12 hours. He wants to catch the guy, of course, and get that painting returned, but it would be really awesome if he didn’t have to leave his own wedding to do it.

 

Two hours later, though, Danny is a frantic mess, so stressed out about the school gala that evening that he’s been snapping at Steve since the minute he got up. But Steve just rolls with it, because Steve’s going to marry Danny today (8.5 hours and counting), and that’s all that really matters. So he smiles and nods and reassures his partner as best he can, and hustles the kids to get moving so they can get out of Danny’s way and let him work into his frenzy without them around.

 

“Okay, Danno. I’m going to take the kids and go find your family at the hotel. We’ll be out of your hair in a few minutes so you can do what you need to do.”

 

Danny stops his fussing around the kitchen and looks at Steve blankly for a few seconds. “Yeah… okay. Look, I’m sorry. This stupid gala has me tied up in knots. I didn’t mean to be such a jerk this morning,” he says, looking every bit as guilty as he sounds.  

 

“It’s alright, Danno,” Steve gives him a quick kiss. “We all understand.”

 

“Thanks, babe,” Danny answers, sounding a little tired, but then gives Steve a kiss back. “Hey, uh, make sure you’re back here no later than 3:30 so we’ll have time to get ready and get to Paradise Lost by 5:00.”

 

“Will do,” Steve answers. That timing is perfect, since they need to be at the overlook at 5:00. “So what, uh, what do you still have to get done today?”

 

“Well, I gotta pick up a bunch of stuff at the school – Kelly’s meeting me there at 10:00 – and a few of us are bringing everything out to Paradise Lost by noon so we can make sure they get it set up the way it’s supposed to be. And then I think I’ll have just enough time to get back here and shower and change before we have to go back.”

 

“Okay,” Steve says, grabbing one of Danny’s arms and pulling him into an embrace. “Hey, Danno, try to relax, okay?” he squeezes his partner tightly. “Tonight’s gonna be a great night.”

 

Danny pushes away from Steve and looks at him with amusement. “Are you seriously quoting song lyrics at me right now, McGarrett?”

 

Steve laughs and gives Danny a brief kiss and then walks to the living room to holler up the stairs. “Grace, Charlie! Let’s go!”

 

“Coming!” Grace yells back.

 

“Coming!” Charlie echoes her, as both kids race down the stairs with loaded backpacks.

 

“Hey, come ‘ere and give Danno a hug,” Danny tells them. “You guys have fun at your sleep-over with your cousins tonight, okay? We’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

 

“Bye, Danno,” Grace says, giving Danny a hug.

 

“Look at you,” he says as he squeezes her. “You’re almost as tall as me, Monkey. What am I gonna do with you, huh?”

 

“I don’t know, Danno,” she smiles.

 

Danny squats down and pulls Charlie in to an embrace. “And you, Cowboy. You make sure you don’t get taller than me by tomorrow, you got it?”

 

Charlie giggles. “I won’t, Danno.”

 

“Okay, good. Now you two get outta here. And be good – you hear me? I don’t want any reports back that you repelled down the hotel wall or stole the moon or anything.”

 

“Bye, Danno!” they all yell as Steve herds the kids out the door.

 

Once they are securely in the Silverado, Steve turns to Grace. “Gracie, did you bring the key to your mom’s house?”

 

“Yep, I’ve got it, Uncle Steve,” she pulls her key ring out of her backpack.

 

“Okay, we’ll stop there on the way to the hotel and get your dress and Charlie’s suit.”

 

“I don’t wanna wear a suit,” Charlie pipes up from the back seat.

 

“I know, buddy… no one really ever wants to wear a suit, but tonight is a really special night and so you just need to wear one for a little while, okay?”

 

“Okay,” Charlie grudgingly agrees.

 

They stop at Rachel’s house and Grace runs in to get the dress and suit that Rachel had packed into a garment bag for them, as well as the bag with their shoes and her hair things.

 

When they arrive at the Ala Moana, Steve is vastly relieved to find that Kono’s cousin has already picked up and delivered the flowers to Clara and Eddie’s suite. Steve’s already starting to believe that that is the best $500 investment he’s ever made.

 

There’s a knock on the door shortly after they arrive and Grace opens it, revealing Mary and Joan.

 

“Aunt Mary!” Grace yells and wraps her arms around the taller woman.

 

“Hi Gracie! How are you?”

 

“I’m great!” she answers excitedly. “I can’t wait for the wedding!”

 

“Hello,” Clara says as she approaches the door. “Who’s this?” she asks, smiling at Joan who is tucking her face shyly into her mom’s neck.

 

“This,” she says, trying to cajole Joanie into showing her face, “is Joan, otherwise known as the future Mrs. Charlie Williams.”

 

Joan lifts her head at that and looks around. When she spots Charlie, she squirms to get down and races over to him, her face beaming. Charlie squeals and reaches out to hug her.

 

“They’re adorable,” Clara remarks, then turns back to Mary. “Hi, I’m Clara Williams, Danny’s mom.”

 

“Clara, this is my sister Mary,” Steve introduces her.

 

“It’s really nice to meet you,” Mary tells Clara.

 

“It’s nice to meet you, too. Grace has told me all about you and Joan. We’re so glad you could be here for the wedding.”

 

“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t have missed this for the world! I never actually thought I’d see the day when this one here finally took the plunge,” she says gesturing at Steve.

 

Steve’s pretty sure this conversation is going someplace he doesn’t want to be here for, so he turns to his future mother-in-law. “So, Clara, are you good if I leave the kids here with you for a while? I need to run and pick up the rings from the jewelry store.”

 

“Of course, Steven,” she says amiably.

 

“Am I out of my confinement now? Can we go down to the pool?” Mary asks.

 

“Danny won’t be around all day since he’s tied up with last minute stuff for his gala, so, _yes, Rapunzel_ , you can let down your hair.”

 

“There’s a story behind that, I’m sure,” Clara smirks.

 

“Oh, let me tell you all about my big brother,” Mary says to Clara conspiratorially, and takes her arm, leading her away from Steve.

 

“Don’t believe half of what she says!” Steve calls out after them, and watches with a slightly uneasy feeling in his stomach as Mary looks at him and laughs.

 

He is halfway out the door when Eddie stops him. “Steve… do you mind if I tag along?” he asks. “I wouldn’t mind getting to see a little more of your island.”

 

“Uh, yes, Sir. I mean Eddie. I’d be happy to have your company.”

 

When they get in the car, Steve makes sure to drive the speed limit and obey all the traffic laws, not wanting to make a bad impression on his future father-in-law.

 

“Listen, son. I just wanted to have a chance to talk to you, really.”

 

“I kind of wondered if that might be the case,” Steve says, trying not to sound wary.

 

“I talked to Danny a couple of days ago. About… his past.”

 

“Yes, Sir, he told me that.”

 

“Did you know about him and that other fella?” Eddie asks, and Steve can tell that the man is still pretty stunned by what Danny had told him.

 

“Not… right away. But, he told me shortly after we started seeing each other.”

 

Eddie nods his head thoughtfully.  “That sort of surprised me.”

 

“I can understand that,” Steve sympathizes.

 

“It’s just, as a father, you think you know your children…” Eddie pauses and sighs, then looks out the side window. “I suppose I _shouldn’t_ have been surprised though, since I was completely unaware that my other son…” He doesn’t finish the thought, but Steve’s pretty sure he knows what he was going to say.

 

“Listen, if it makes you feel any better, I’m sure if my father were still living, he would be having the same reaction,” Steve tells him.

 

After a slight pause, Eddie nods. “I suppose that does help a little.”

 

They drive in increasingly uncomfortable silence - it seems like Eddie has more to say, be he doesn't add anything further.  By the time they get to the jewelry store, Steve has never been so relieved to get out of a car. But when he walks around to the sidewalk, Eddie stops him with a hand on his arms.

 

“Listen, son. I’m not really good with words, but what I really wanted to say to you, is that, even though it’s maybe taken me a little time to adjust to the… _idea_ of you,” Eddie looks slightly uncomfortable, “I do like _you_ quite a bit.” Eddie takes a deep breath. “And I can see that Danny loves you an awful lot and I believe you’re good for him,” Eddie echoes Brian’s words from a couple of days before. “And if it matters to you at all, I would like to give you my blessing for you to marry my boy.”

 

Steve sucks in a quick breath and he can feel his eyes prickle, and he has to take a few seconds to gather himself. “It matters to me a great deal,” Steve answers, his voice rough with emotion. “Thank you very much, Sir,” he reaches his hand out to Eddie.

 

“Oh, come on, none of that,” Eddie says, pulling him into a bear hug. “We’re going to be family in a few hours.”

 

They are both trying to hide their sniffling a moment later when Eddie releases him, and they hurry into the jewelry store, neither of them looking directly at the other.

 

“Commander McGarrett!” Kenji greets him as they walk in the door. “Today is the big day, huh?” he is smiling brightly.

 

“Uh, yeah, it is,” Steve smiles back. “I’m here to get the rings.”

 

“Of course. I have them right here,” he reaches behind the counter and pulls out a ring box, and when he opens it, two platinum bands sparkle back at him. “Please check the inscription and make sure it is as you wanted it.”

 

Steve takes the box and pulls the smaller of the two rings out, angling it so that he can read the words on the inside. It’s exactly what Steve had written on the form and he smiles and nods. “Looks perfect, Kenji. Thanks.”

 

“May I?” Eddie asks, his curiosity getting the better of him.

 

Steve hands the ring to him and watches as Eddie pulls out his glasses and squints at the tiny letters.

 

“It’s from - ” Steve starts to explain.

 

“I understand the reference,” Eddie says quickly, and then clears his throat and hands the ring back to Steve.

 

Steve could swear Eddie’s eyes are about to spill over, so he pays a lot of attention to putting the ring back in the box and turning back to the jeweler. “Kenji, I can’t thank you enough for all of your help with the rings,” he reaches out to shake the man’s hand. “You know, it was being in here on New Year’s Day that started all of this.”

 

“Was it? Well isn’t that lovely to hear! And it’s been my _pleasure_ to help you with your special day! Best of luck with your surprise!”

 

“Thanks,” Steve smiles and turns to leave.

 

“Oh, Commander!” Kenji calls out to him and Steve and Eddie both turn back around. “Did you find the painting that was stolen from next door?”

 

Steve scowls. “Not yet. But I’m pretty sure we’re getting close,” he answers.

 

“Well. Good luck!”

 

Steve waves his response and he and Eddie leave the store. Six hours and counting.

 

xoxoxo

 

Everything seems to be well under control: Clara is going to get the kids dressed and out to the overlook; Steve and Grace have explained to Charlie what’s going on, and they’ve rehearsed his ring-bearer duties; and, Steve’s made a call to the HDOT Director to make sure their crews were reminded about the wedding that would be taking place today. He’s surprised, but he actually finds that he feels completely relaxed and he heads out to the pool where the kids are playing and orders some lunch for himself.

 

Promptly at 3:10, he leaves the Ala Moana and is back at the house at 3:30 sharp (an hour and half and counting). When he gets there, he can hear Danny puttering around upstairs, but he goes directly into the kitchen and makes a small pot of coffee and pours a large mug of it and then leaves it on the counter while he goes upstairs.

 

When he walks into the bedroom, he finds Danny already showered and just buttoning up his shirt.

 

“Will you hurry up already?” Danny barks, clearly agitated.

 

“Relax, Danny. We have plenty of time.”

 

“Please do not tell me to relax, Steven. You hear me? How am I supposed to relax when my son’s entire future is resting on this night going smoothly? Now for God’s sake, get in the shower!”

 

Steve huffs but strips down quickly and heads to the bathroom for a quick Navy shower. Once out, he gets the rented tux from the closet (giving his Dress Blues a quick check-over while he’s there) and puts it on, then goes to track down Danny.

 

He finds him in the kitchen – perfect – and he immediately walks over to pick up the cup of coffee he left cooling there several minutes ago. Danny has his back to Steve, rummaging in the refrigerator for something, so Steve takes advantage of the moment and simply dumps his coffee down the front of him, making sure to splash it on his coat, shirt and pants.

 

“Shit!” Steve yelps, and jumps backward as though surprised.

 

“What?” Danny asks tensely, whipping around. When he catches sight of Steve, standing there looking shocked with coffee all over the front of himself, his eyes nearly bug out of his head. “What the hell did you do?” he yells.

 

“What does it look like, Danny? I spilled coffee on myself,” he answers as he wipes ineffectually at the front of his shirt.

 

“Oh my God… _oh my God!_ How did you manage to _do that?!_ ”

 

“I don’t know, Danny, I guess I grabbed it too quickly. It just kinda… slipped,” Steve puts on his best, apologetic face.

 

“Oh my God,” Danny is gesturing wildly. “What the hell are we gonna do? Huh? Steven? There’s no time to get a new tux… we can’t just materialize one out of thin air! How could you _do_ this to me?” Danny all but wails.

 

“Okay, Danny… relax…” Steve grabs Danny’s shoulder, to sort of… gentle him.

 

“Stop telling me to relax!” Danny shouts.

 

“Danny… Danny… it’s going to be fine. I can wear my Dress Blues. They’re formal enough for any occasion.”

 

“Formal enough for any occasion…” Danny mocks him in a snippy voice. “And of course, that also means that you’ll have your chest full of all those decorations so that all the women who are already throwing themselves at you are going to be practically salivating in their soup!”

 

Steve’s mouth quirks up in a half-grin. “Are you actually jealous?”

 

Danny stares at him with an expression filled with so many different emotions that Steve nearly laughs. “Just go put on the damn costume,” Danny orders him. “We have to go.”

 

“Yes, Sir!” Steve gives him a mock salute and then smiles wide and runs out of the room when Danny’s face turns red.

 

Seven minutes later, Steve is back downstairs and Danny is sitting on the couch with his eyes close. “Everything okay, Danny?” Steve asks, a little concerned.

 

Danny opens his eyes and stands up, walking over to Steve. “Sorry,” he mumbles, reaching up to straighten his tie. “I guess I’m kinda stressed. I don’t mean to take it out on you.”

 

“It’s okay, Danno,” Steve tells him. “I get it.”

 

“You look good,” Danny admits, running his hands down Steve’s lapels. “I thought you only broke this thing out for weddings and funerals… and court dates,” he adds, looking up into Steve’s eyes.

 

Steve reaches up and takes Danny’s face in his hands, then leans down and kisses him gently. “Okay?” Steve asks him.

 

Danny sighs and after a few seconds, he opens his eyes again. “Yeah. Okay. Thanks.”

 

Steve looks at his watch; it’s 4:30 (a half hour and counting). “We better get going, Danno. Don’t want to be late.”

 

xoxoxo

 

At 4:45 (15 minutes and counting), Danny realizes that Steve did not turn where he was supposed to, to get to Paradise Lost.

 

“Steve... Steve, you missed the turn,” Danny is craning his neck backward, watching the road they were supposed to turn on disappear behind them.

 

Steve just smirks and keeps driving.

 

“Steve. Steven. Babe. You need to turn around.”

 

“It’s okay, Danny. I know where I’m going.”

 

“No, you don’t know where you are going, because you just missed the turn! It was back there and now you are going in the _exact opposite_ direction of where we need to go. Steve! I have been there three times; you haven’t ever been there. You don’t know where you’re going and you need to turn around!” Danny is getting agitated.

 

“Don’t worry, Danno. We’re all good,” Steve says casually, continuing on his course.

 

“No, Steve. No! We are not _all good!_ We need to be going the other way. I need to get to Paradise Lost!”

 

Steve finally turns and glances at him, giving him an easy smile. “It’s okay, Danny. Trust me.”

 

“Trust you? I’d be crazy to trust you – you are kidnapping me and you are going to destroy my son’s chances of getting into that school… and you _know_ what that means, Steven! It means the rest of his life will be _ruined_. That’s what you are doing, Steven, you are ruining my son’s future. Now would you turn around – _PLEASE!”_ Danny’s emotional state has reached the level of ‘sincerely freaking out’ now.

 

Steve doesn’t say anything, but he slows the car as they approach the HDOT ‘road closed’ signs.

 

“What are you doing?” Danny asks, his head swiveling to stare at the signs as they drive past them. “What are you doing? It says road closed; you can’t just go around that sign,” a whole new element of anxiety is added to Danny’s burden. “Steve, Steve, Steve… I am _begging_ you, turn the car around, _please_ , tur… what… what are all these cars doing here?” he asks when he sees the couple dozen vehicles parked along the road. “Wait… That looks like Chin’s car... And Kono’s, too… What…? Is that my parents’ _rental_ car?” Danny stares at the car as they roll slowly past it.

 

Steve rounds the final bend and stops the Camaro. A small crowd is visible at the overlook about 30 yards away; all heads turn and look eagerly in their direction.

 

“What…? What’s going on?” Danny is genuinely, completely confused. “What are all those people doing here?”

 

“Danny…” Steve says, turning in his seat to face his partner.

 

Danny flicks a glance at him and then goes back to squinting at the crowd, his mind clearly going a million miles an hour. “Steve… I gotta… I gotta get to… Is that the Governor?”

 

“Yes, that’s the Governor,” Steve tells him. “Danny, look at me,” he says, a tiny bit of laugher in his voice.

 

Danny turns and looks at Steve and then back at the gathering and then back at Steve. “Steve… _What_ is going on?” His eyes are going back and forth and back and forth trying to make sense of what he’s seeing.

 

“Danny. I need you to look at me,” Steve tells him again and Danny finally shifts in his seat and turns to face Steve a little. “Good… Okay, now I need you to listen to me. Are you listening?”

 

“Oh God…” Danny moans. “Is this some sort of intervention? It is isn’t it? _What?_ What am I doing that my family thinks I need an intervention…?” he all but wails, and it sounds like he might hyperventilate.

 

“Danny, stop. Calm down. It’s not an intervention.”

 

“It’s not?” his relief is palpable.

 

Steve shakes his head, a smile quirking up at both corners of his mouth.

 

“What _is_ it then?” Danny asks, glancing uneasily at the crowd near the overlook, then back at Steve.

 

“Danny. You’re in a tux.”

 

“Yeah…?”

 

“And I’m in my Dress Blues.”

 

“Yeah… because you spilled coffee all over your tux… and we’ve… we’ve got that thing…”

 

But Steve shakes his head vigorously. “Listen to me, Danny. I talked to Kelly Rushmore. Everything’s fine. She knows you’re not going to be there…”

 

“ _What?_ Not going to be there?” Danny groans. “No, I _have_ to be there! You’re going to ruin my son’s life, Steve!” Danny starts again.

 

“No, Danny, trust me, okay? Kelly said it’s fine. I’ll explain everything later, but will you just please trust me when I tell you that it’s okay that you are not going to the gala and Charlie won’t be punished for it. Danny, you hear me? Trust me on that, okay? You know I would never do anything that might hurt Charlie.”

 

Danny’s eyes still look a little wild and confused, but he relaxes fractionally.

 

“Do you trust me, Danno?

 

“Yeah, yeah, I trust you. Of course I trust you, but…”

 

“No, no buts… it’s okay. Say it back to me… it’s okay…”

 

“It’s okay…” Danny complies.

 

“Good…”

 

“Steven… _please…_ please tell me what the hell is going on!”

 

Steve smiles. “Well, I’m in my Dress Blues… and you’re in a tux…”

 

“Yeah, we covered that already,” Danny responds impatiently.

 

“And our family and friends are here.”

 

Danny squints out the front window and finally seems to take in each and every person he sees, and his eyes go wide in surprise and confusion. “Yeaaaaahhhh… What are they all doing here, Steven?”

 

“Do you remember the conversation we had on New Year’s Day?”

 

Danny turns back to Steve, registering even more confusion at the sudden subject shift. “Uh, on New Year’s Day?”

 

Steve nods.

 

“Not particularly. We had a lot of conversations that day. Didn’t our case start that day?”

 

“Yeah, exactly. Our case. At the jewelry store…”

 

“No it was the gallery.”

 

Steve rolls his eyes. “Right, but it started in the jewelry store, you remember? And after we left you talked about how you never wanted to plan another wedding…”

 

“Right, and then I idiotically volunteered to plan this stupid gala event to ensure my son’s future and instead…” Danny is staring again at the crowd but cuts himself off as though a different thought is occurring to him.

 

“And I said I’d plan it all and you said…” Steve prompts him.

 

Steve doesn’t say anything further but just watches Danny as comprehension slowly dawns. He sees the exact moment when the last pieces slip into place and Danny sucks in an audible breath. “I said you just tell me when and where and I’d be there,” Danny looks at him with eyes wide.

 

“Saturday, January 30th, 2016 at 5:00 pm, at the Overlook on Diamond Head Road.”

 

Danny stares at his partner. “Steven, are you trying to tell me that we are here to get married?” he asks slowly.

 

“This is the time and place, Daniel. Whaddaya say we go get married?” Steve grins.

 

Danny turns and looks at the crowd again. His mother gives a little wave and, dazed, Danny lifts a hand in return.

 

“And the gala…?”

 

“All taken care of Danny – I swear. I cleared everything with Kelly Rushmore and I’ll explain it all later. But, right now, can we maybe start this thing rolling, because we only get the overlook for an hour before HDOT comes and kicks us out.”

 

“Um…” Danny mumbles, still distracted by multiple thoughts.

 

“Okay, listen… I’m gonna go over and explain to everyone that you’ll be out in a few minutes okay?”

 

“Yeah, okay…” Danny nods distractedly.

 

“Hey, Danny?” Steve says gently and Danny turns his head back to Steve. “Is this okay? Are we good?” Steve asks, sounding slightly unsure of himself for the first time. “I mean, if this is… not something you want to do, we can leave…”

 

“ _NO!_ ” Danny blurts immediately, and for the first time, a smile lights his face. “No, babe, _no_ … this is… this is so _unbelievably_ …”

 

Steve gives his a nervous look.

 

“…amazing! So unbelievably amazing! I’m just trying to… you know…” he’s at a loss for words and gestures vaguely at his head.

 

“Process it?” Steve suggests hopefully, a tentative smile ghosting on his face again.

 

“Yes! That!” Danny says cheerfully, pointing at Steve. “I’m just processing. But it’s _good._ It’s _great,_ in fact. I just… I can’t believe you did this for me,” Danny says in an awe-filled voice.

 

Steve lets out a relieved breath. “Okay, so… do you wanna take a minute…?”

 

“Yeah… yes. A minute would be good…” Danny nods wildly.

 

Steve leans in and kisses him and Danny kisses back enthusiastically, but when they hear a small cheer erupt from the gathered crowd, they pull apart, both grinning and laughing. Steve’s eyes are shining as he darts a quick glance toward the crowd and then back at his partner.

 

“Okay. I’m gonna…” he gestures at the people through the front window.

 

“Yeah, okay… good idea. Just… give me a minute will ya?” Danny says, sniffling a little.

 

“Sure, Danno. Take all the time you need,” Steve says as he starts to open the car door, then closes it again. “Oh, wait!” Steve says, and leans across Danny to open the glove box and pull out his boutonniere.  “Can’t forget this,” he says, as he pins it on Danny’s lapel.

 

“What about yours?” Danny asks, looking down at the flower.

 

“Dress Blues…” Steve says.

 

“Can’t embellish… right,” Danny finishes for him.

 

Steve opens the car door again and as he steps out, a ripple of excitement spreads through the crowd. “Oh, and Danno…?” Steve bends down and pokes his head through the open door.

 

“Huh?” Danny tears his eyes from the crowd and looks over at him.

 

“Uh, you might want to spend a couple minutes thinking about your wedding vows, ‘cause it’s kind of unscripted.” Steve flashes him a radiant smile before closing the door and turning to scoot away as quickly as possible, but not before he catches a glimpse of Danny’s stunned and terrified expression.

 

Steve makes his way to the gathered crowd and reassures everyone that Danny will be there momentarily.   That calms the crowd considerably and they start to talk amongst themselves, but everyone has one eye on the Camaro.

 

A few minutes later, Danny emerges from the car and walks with determination toward the gathering, saying small hellos to people as he passes. His face is flushed by the time he reaches Steve, standing at the edge of the overlook by the low retaining wall.

 

“Governor,” Danny acknowledges the man.

 

“Detective Williams... Danny,” he corrects himself. “It’s good to see you here,” he says, sounding utterly amused.

 

“Uh, thank you, Sir,” he answers, darting nervous glances from him to Steve and around the gathered crowd.

 

“So… Danny. Would you like to perhaps say a few words before we start?” the Governor asks him and Danny freezes.

 

“What? _No!_ ” he whispers, shooting horrified looks between Steve and the Governor.

 

Steve nudges him, a grin on his face. “Just say a little something,” he urges.

 

Danny turns awkwardly toward the group of well-wisher. “Uh… Hi… everyone….” Danny says, obviously nervous, and a ripple of soft laughter flows through the crowd. Danny shifts uneasily where he stands. “So, uh, I guess you all know that I didn’t know that we were… going to the … overlook… and we were going to get married. And… you know, it’s hard for me to say the things I want to say sometimes, but, you know… they say that two hearts are better than one, and, uh that’s true…” Danny pauses and swipes at the sweat on his forehead. “You know, without Steve, and without all of you, my life just wouldn’t be the same, so, I guess it’s a nice day for a wh… wedding. So… let’s, uh, let’s do that, okay?” Danny smiles uncomfortably and nods at the crowd and then steps back next to Steve. *

 

Steve leans in and whispers to Danny. “Did you seriously just mash up a bunch of song lyrics there?” Steve tries unsuccessfully to suppress a grin.

 

“Whaddaya want me to do?” Danny whispers back. “I didn’t know the Governor was going to tell me to _say_ something! You know, a little warning about _that_ would’ve been appreciated!”

 

“Well, see if you can do a little better on the vows, will ya’?” Steve murmurs with a playful smile.

 

The Governor starts the ceremony and does his mandatory parts so that the marriage will be completely legal, and then pauses. “Steve, you may now recite your vows,” he tells them.

 

Steve smiles nervously and takes a deep breath, reaching out to take Danny’s hands in his own. “Danny. Thank you for being here today. Not that I gave you much choice,” Steve starts, and the gathered audience titters. “I want you to know, that there’s never been anyone else in my life that I could ever have imagined standing here with,” Steve stops for a moment and gathers himself.

 

“You saved me, Danny. Yes, you saved my life in Korea and in Afghanistan, and in Hawai’i, more times than I can probably count.” Danny swallows hard around the lump in his throat and he can feel his eyes prickling. “But you saved me in another, maybe more important way, too; you saved me from the lonely existence that was my life before I met you. And since I met you – though it took me a while to actually realize it – all I’ve wanted is to spend the rest of my life with you and Grace, and now Charlie, too.” Steve and Danny both turn, smiling at the two kids, who are grinning back at them. “So, Danno, today I pledge my heart to you, and I promised to love, honor, cherish and pretzel you ‘til death do us part.”

 

Danny is caught off guard at the pretzel reference and his face contorts as he tries desperately not to burst out laughing; he is not completely successful in stopping the surprised noise from escaping his throat, though he manages to mostly choke it off. Steve’s eyes are laughing, and when Danny finally gives in and grins broadly, Steve does the same as the two of them share their joke.

 

The Governor is giving them a strange look, but after a few seconds, he turns to Danny. “Okay, Danny, do you have some vows prepared?”

 

Danny take a deep breath. “Here goes nothing,” he mumbles and tips his head up to look Steve in the eyes.

 

“Steve, um, first of all, _thank you_ for bringing me here today and doing all of this. It never entered my mind that this was what you were up to, but now that I know, it seems the most obvious thing in the world. Of course you would do this – _of course you would -_  because that’s who you are, and I can’t tell you how much I love you for it,” Danny pauses and takes another deep breath. “You said I saved you, but you saved me, too. _You saved me, too._ You saved me from myself… from letting me fall too deep down into my own abyss. You save me every day when you reach your hand down and pull me up out of it, and I love you for that more than I can ever express. So, today, here with Grace and Charlie, I pledge my heart to you and I promise to love, honor, cherish and pretzel _you_ , ‘til death do us part.”

 

A huge smile has spread across Steve’s face as Danny has worked through his vows and he laughs when Danny makes the pretzel reference, too.

 

“Do we have the rings?” the Governor asks, looking toward where Grace and Charlie are standing with Clara and Eddie.

 

Grace nudges Charlie a little, then bends down and whispers in his ear, pointing toward Danny and Steve. Charlie walks carefully and reverently over to them, holding the small pillow out in front of himself.

 

Danny gives him a perplexed look when he arrives and then leans in to Steve. “Is that Grace’s doll pillow?” he whispers.

 

“No, Danno, that is _not_ Grace’s doll pillow,” he huffs, one eyebrow raised informatively.

 

The moment when comprehension dawns is clear on Danny’s face and Steve stifles his laughter, but Charlie giggles loudly.

 

“Steve, if you’ll take the ring…” the Governor prompts him, and Steve reaches down and deftly unties the silk strings that hold Danny’s ring to the pillow. “Now place it on his finger…” Steve holds Danny left hand up and slides the ring behind his knuckle. “With this ring, I thee wed,” the Governor says.

 

“With this ring, I thee wed,” Steve repeats, smiling broadly.

 

“Now Danny, if you’ll do the same,” Governor Denning instructs him.

 

Danny unties Steve’s ring. “With this ring, I thee wed,” he says as he slides the ring onto Steve’s finger.

 

“Well, then,” the Governor says, sounding very pleased, “by the power vested in me by the State of Hawai’i, I now pronounce you husbands for life.”

xoxoxo

 

Steve and Danny are mostly quiet on the drive from the overlook back to their house. Every once in a while, Danny will turn his head toward Steve and it looks like he’s about to say something, but then he stops and turns back. Steve knows he’s still… processing… so he leaves him to it, happily enjoying the drive home with his husband. His _husband_. But he can’t stop himself from looking at his hand on the steering wheel every few seconds, somehow startled every time to see a ring on his fourth finger.

 

At one point, in his peripheral vision, Steve sees Danny slide the ring off his finger and squint at the small letters on the inside. Steve’s feels himself get nervous and he darts his eyes back and forth, trying to see Danny’s reaction, but trying not to be obvious about it.

 

 _‘…but now I’m found’_ ,** is what Steve knows the words read. He remembers the conversation the two of them had that day Danny had gotten lost on his way to Paradise Found, and he wonders if Danny remembers, too. As he darts another surreptitious glance at his… husband, Steve hears Danny sniffle a little and thinks he sees Danny quickly swipe at his eyes with his right hand, after sliding the ring back on his finger. Steve smiles and relaxes, knowing that he chose the right words for the inscription in Danny’s ring.

 

A few seconds later, they turn into the driveway of the house and pull up alongside Tony’s pizza truck.

 

Steve hears Danny gasp when he realizes what he's seeing and then hears his strangled words. “Oh my God, I love you so much right now.”

 

Steve turns in his seat and grins at him. “So, are you done…” he twirls his hand near his head, “…processing?”

 

“I’m not sure I’ll ever be done processing this,” Danny answers.

 

“So…? Best surprise ever… Right?” Steve asks gleefully, fully puffed-up at the success of ‘Operation: Wedding’.

 

Danny rolls his eyes. “It was a pretty good surprise,” he concedes, then gets out of the car.

 

Steve furrows his brow and then scrambles out a few seconds behind him. “Pretty good? Danny, I just surprised you with a _wedding,_ ” Steve points out indignantly, scurrying after him. “And now there’s a party…!”

 

“Alright, yes, it was a great surprise. Stop fishing for compliments!” he calls over his shoulder.  Danny is already walking around the side of the house because it’s clear the party is in the back, but when Steve catches up with him, Danny stops and turns to face him.

 

“Hang on a minute,” Danny says, a hand on Steve’s chest.

 

“Yeah?”

 

Danny is looking down at the ground and seems to be thinking about something, and after a few moments, he lifts his head and looks into Steve’s eyes.  “Did you seriously just surprise me with a wedding?” he asks slowly, as though he’s waking from a dream and trying to reorient himself.

 

“I did,” Steve answers, grinning like a fool and nodding enthusiastically.

 

Danny stares at Steve for a few more seconds. “Come’ ere, you big goof,” he says, and yanks Steve by his tie into a heated kiss. Steve goes willingly, reaching up to grip the back of Danny’s head, the other arm snaking around his waist.

 

“I really, really love you,” Danny says quietly when they finally move apart.

 

“Love you, too, Danno. Now, whaddaya say we go celebrate?”

 

xoxoxo

 

~~Pick up rings~~

~~Marry Danny~~

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, not quite done yet! We still have to solve that case, so one more brief epilogue chapter tomorrow! 
> 
>  
> 
> * Song references in Danny’s comments:
> 
> "I didn’t know that we were… going to the … overlook… and we were going to get married" – inspired by the line “We’re goin’ to the chapel and we’re gonna get married” from the song “Going to the Chapel” by The Dixie Cups.
> 
> "it’s hard for me to say the things I want to say sometimes" – from “Thank You for Loving Me” by Bon Jovi.
> 
> "two hearts are better than one" – from “Two Hearts” by Bruce Springsteen.
> 
> "without… you, my life just wouldn’t be the same" – from “When you Need Me” by Bruce Springsteen.
> 
> "it’s a nice day for a [wh…] wedding" – from “White Wedding” by Billy Idol.
> 
>  
> 
> ** Ring inscription: "… but now I’m found" – slightly adapted from the gospel hymn, “Amazing Grace”


	31. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah! Here we are - at the end, at last! Much thanks to all of you who read, gave kudos and commented - it is greatly appreciated and makes the time and effort put into any fic feel much more worthwhile!
> 
> Of course, I have to express heartfelt thanks to KippyVee, who was a great sounding board throughout this whole fic, giving me ideas and inspiration, and of course, editing beautifully. I would say she worked tirelessly, except she kept at this even when I know she was tired and sick. Thank you, thank you, thank you, KippyVee!

_Sunday, January 31st_

 

Steve wakes with a jolt at 6:42am to the sound of both his and Danny’s phones going off. They both fumble for them and Steve hears Danny’s mumbled “hello”, before he can answer his own.

 

They’ve only been asleep for three and a half hours (they’ve been in bed a little longer than that, though…) after the post-wedding party went late into the night. Around 11:00pm, Clara and Eddie took all the kids (including Joan) back to the hotel, and most of the rest of the adults stayed another couple of hours. Everything went off without a hitch and Danny was awed and delighted at all of Steve’s choices – which were really Danny’s choices, so maybe it shouldn't be a big surprise that he was thrilled.

 

“McGarrett,” Steve answers his phone, his voice rough with too little sleep.

 

“McGarrett. It’s Barry. Hey, I just got another call. That guy wants to meet me in a couple hours.”

 

“Where?” Steve asks, suddenly much more awake.

 

“He didn’t say. He just said to be ready and that he’d call me and I could come see the painting.”

 

“Okay, good, Barry. You call me back the second you hear from him again,” Steve says and disconnects the call. He turns toward Danny, who is also ending his call. “That was Barry. He got a call to be ready for a meet in a couple hours.”

 

“That was Jacob Mitchell,” Danny tells Steve. “He said when he got up this morning his keys were gone.”

 

Steve’s phone rings just as Danny finishes; he looks at the screen and quickly answers. “Duke, whaddaya got?” Steve asks, then listens for a few seconds. “Great, thanks,” he says as he disconnects the call.

 

“He’s at Oahu-Pac right now,” Steve says, flinging the sheet off of himself and climbing naked out of bed. “He must be grabbing the forklift and truck; HPD's gonna tail him discreetly and keep us updated about where he goes.”

 

Danny has climbed out of bed, too, and they are both scooping up any clothes they can put their hands on quickly. They both end up throwing on the board shorts and t-shirts that they had changed into after a couple hours at the party last night, since they are the closest at hand.

 

They race downstairs and into the kitchen; Steve eyes the coffee-maker woefully, but there’s no time to stop to brew it, so he just grabs a couple bottles of water out of the refrigerator. Danny grabs a couple handfuls of what remains of the pyramid of malasadas and tosses them in a bag. They are in the Camaro six minutes after the calls came in. Steve drives in the general direction of Oahu-Pac, waiting for updated information about where Harley is headed.

 

“God, I was so worried this would all go down yesterday,” Steve says, huffing in relief.

 

Danny turns and is staring at Steve discerningly.

 

“What?” Steve asks, looking back and forth between Danny and the road in front of them.

 

Danny gives him a toothy grin. “We’re married,” Danny says jubilantly.

 

Steve returns the smile. “Yeah, we are,” he sounds as giddy as Danny.

 

Danny starts to laugh his uncontrolled, slightly maniacal laugh and Steve joins in; pretty soon, there are tears streaming down both of their cheeks. A few seconds later, though, Steve’s phone rings.

 

They both sober immediately and Steve punches the Bluetooth. “McGarrett,” he answers.

 

“Steve, it’s Chin. HPD followed Harley to St. Joseph’s Church. He’s parked the truck in the alley behind it and has gone into a four-bay garage.”

 

“Okay, Chin, that’s good. We’re not far from there; we’ll be there in five minutes.”

 

“Oh man, I am going to be so glad to finally nail this guy,” Danny says, reaching into the bag of malasadas he brought along and popping one into his mouth. “Oh, God… these are so good. Did I tell you last night how good these are?” Danny asks Steve, chewing happily.

 

Steve gives him a half-smile. “You may have said something about it once or twice, yeah.” Steve is driving fast, but without lights and sirens; thankfully, this early on a Sunday morning, there’s little traffic.

 

“You want one?” Danny asks, holding the bag out to Steve.

 

Normally Steve would forego the overly sweet treat, but Danny’s glee is too strong to ignore, so he reaches in the bag and grabs one, shoving it in his mouth quickly so he can get both hands on the steering wheel again. “These really are good,” Steve agrees, mumbling around the pastry.

 

“A pyramid of malasadas…” Danny says with awe, popping another one in his mouth. “That was truly amazing, babe,” Danny grins, still chewing.

 

Steve shoots a quick smile at his partner; he loves seeing Danny like this.

 

“They’re not from Liliha’s, though, are they?” Danny comments, putting yet another malasada in his mouth. “They taste a little different.”

 

“Uh, no,” Steve answers, as he slows the Camaro; they’re getting close. “Liliha’s was closed all month so I got them at The World Bakery.” Steve pulls the car to a stop around the corner from St. Joseph’s Church. He can just glimpse the Oahu-Pac truck in the alley from here. “He’s here,” Steve says, popping the trunk open and quickly getting out of the car as Chin, Kono and Lou turn the corner and roll slowly to a stop behind them.

 

Danny stares after him for a few seconds while his mind works in two different directions. “That _idiot!_ ” he mutters and then scrambles out of the car after Steve.

 

Danny walks to the back of the Camaro where his partner has already gotten his vest on. Steve throws one at Danny and Danny grabs it, shooting a fierce expression back at Steve. “ _Steven_ ,” Danny hisses at him, pulling the tac-vest over his head. “Please tell me that you did not risk your life two days ago climbing onto the roof of a burning building so you could ensure they would be able to make malasadas for a party,” Danny whispers emphatically.

 

Steve looks at Danny trying to switch gears in his head, then blinks and darts over to the corner of the four-bay garage. The other three are already geared-up, and Steve gestures to them to go around the garage and approach from the other side.

 

“ _Steven!”_ Danny hisses again, arriving next to his partner as the others scurry away.

 

Steve has his weapon drawn and he glances confusedly behind himself at his partner. “Danny, it wasn’t just a party. It was _our wedding_ ,” he points out impatiently, then focuses back on the garage. “Let’s go,” he says before Danny can respond, and bolts for the open bay door.

 

Danny curses and runs after his partner, stopping behind him at the edge of the open bay. They see Chin and Lou and Kono approaching quietly from the other side and they can hear the forklift moving around inside the garage.

 

“Steven…my beloved husband,” Danny whispers sarcastically. “Did you, or did you not, almost get yourself killed trying to save a donut shop?”

 

“Not now, Danny,” Steve says calmly but distractedly, and Danny gives him a murderous look. Steve gives hand signals across to the rest of the team, counting down from three, and when he gets to zero, they all swing into the garage with guns raised. “Harley Mitchell, Five-0! FREEZE!” Steve yells.

 

Harley looks completely stunned to see them there and immediately raises his hands above his head.

 

“Turn it off and get down off of there!” Lou yells, moving in close to the fork lift from the other side. Harley shuts down the engine and slowly climbs off of it.

 

“Over here!” they hear Kono shout a few seconds later and Steve and Danny run over to where she’s standing, deep in the recesses of the dark garage. “What do you think? Look like it could be a priceless painting?”

 

She is pulling a blue tarp off of a large wooden crate, approximately 9’x13’, and grinning ear to ear. Seconds later, three HPD squad cars pull up in front of, and behind, Harley’s truck and the officers swarm out. When Duke arrives, Steve asks him to call HPD impound and see if they can figure out a way to get the painting back to secure evidence storage.  "And tell them to careful; that painting is worth millions," he adds.

 

Lou’s got Harley cuffed and Danny pokes him in the chest. “A _church!_   You hid the painting at a church? That’s like, sacrilegious, you mutt! Hiding your stolen goods at a house of God!” Danny has momentarily transferred his outrage at Steve to their suspect.

 

Harley shrugs and smirks. “I used to be an altar boy here… they never use these old garages. You never woulda found it.”

 

“Yeah, well, we didn’t need to; we found you,” Chin points out, then gives him a small shove to start walking down the alley as the 5-0 team escorts him back toward their vehicles.

 

“Okay, Steven. Is now a good time for us to talk about your completely inappropriate behavior the other day?”

 

Steve sighs audibly.

 

“What’s he talking about?” Kono asks, recognizing a Danny-rant in the making.

 

“What am I talking about? I am talking about the fact that Steve, over here, ran onto the roof of a burning building-“

 

“The building wasn’t burning, Danny. The building next door was…”

 

“Excuse me, how many fires did you put out on that rooftop?”

 

“I don’t know… four?”

 

“Six! You put out six fires on that rooftop!”

 

“And how do you know that? Huh, Danny? You know that because you were on the rooftop, too!”

 

“Yes, but I did not know the real reason we were there. And that is beside the point!” Danny insists.

 

“Then what is the point, Danny?”

 

“The point is, you risked your life to keep a bakery open so they could make you some malasadas…”

 

“Oh, no... not just malasadas, Danny… _a pyramid of malasadas_ , because you insisted…”

 

“What?” Danny shouts. “I  _insisted?_  I had no idea you were doing whatever crazy thing you were doing!”

 

“Well, you didn’t seem to mind so much last night – and this morning – when you were going on and on about how good they were,” Steve shouts back at him.

 

They’ve arrived at the cars and have all stopped, but neither Steve nor Danny moves to put Harley in the Camaro because they are too distracted by their argument.

 

Danny growls in frustration, his hands whirling around frantically. “You should not have taken such a stupid chance. You could’ve been killed…”

 

Steve scoffs. “You were there, Danny. We weren’t in any real danger…”

 

“Any second, Steven! Any second that building could’ve gone up in flames!”

 

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Steve derides. “You're _totally exaggerating_.  That was never going to happen…”

 

“Jesus… you fight like an old married couple…” Harley interjects. “How long have you two been married?” he snorts sardonically.

 

Five sets of eyes turn and focus on Harley, then they each look down at their watches.

 

“Fourteen hours,” they all announce in unison.

 

“And 17 minutes,” Steve adds, because he’s a Navy SEAL, and they plan their ops to the minute…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This last chapter, and really the whole fic, I owe to KippyVee, because I was waffling hard on whether I wanted to do this - It seemed like the logical follow-up for this 'verse, but I kept thinking, what's the point? But then KippyVee suggested that last scene, where Harley (at that point unknown perp) says 'how long have you 2 been married' and they say 'X hours' - and that was it - I was hooked!! That became my whole focus for the fic and it's raison d'etre... Without her stroke of genius, I probably wouldn't have written this - so... yeah... thanks, Kippy!
> 
> Also, I know some of you said in comments after the last chapter that you were waiting to hear about the party, and I obviously didn't go there with this fic. A lot of that was just logistical - too much to cover and not enough time in a 30-day challenge - especially after the wedding chapter. BUT - I do have a one-shot follow-up in mind that I'm nearly 100% sure I will write - it will take place a little later, but reflecting back to the party and other things. I'm going to need a little break first, though, cuz once again, this has been kind of exhausting, and I need to just sleep for a while and not have to worry about having to write. Pretty soon, though...

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading - I always love to hear what you think!


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